Between 2008 and 2018, Philadelphia lost 6% of its urban tree canopy, with the steepest declines occurring in lower-income neighborhoods like Kensington, where the canopy now covers just 7% of the neighborhood contributing an urban heat island effect. Kensington residents experience temperatures up to 20 degrees higher than other neighborhoods, along with poor air quality, high asthma rates, significant exposure to diesel particulate matter, and widespread lead contamination in neighborhood soil.

In 2026, we catalyzed a new collaboration with the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, Mural Arts Philadelphia, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, RAIR, ArtPhilly, and the Kensington community to establish, care for, and monitor Philadelphia’s first Miyawaki forest on a post-industrial site in Kensington.

The Miyawaki Method is a scalable method for planting native forests that grow up to 10 times faster and 30 times denser than conventional reforestation. This scalable technique generates a range of ecological and social benefits, including reduced temperatures, increased biodiversity, soil remediation, and strengthened community resilience. Kensington’s new pocket forest will host its first tree-planting festival in fall 2026, welcome forest artist-in-residence Pedro Ospina, and offer a range of employment and educational opportunities, including training local residents to care for the site and work with Academy scientists to track the forest’s ecological impact.

In the decades after the pocket forest is planted, this formerly vacant lot will have matured into a cool, shady, public green space, buzzing with birds, bugs, bats, and countless other creatures as well as human activity: gathering, healing, creating, learning, making music, listening, reflecting, resting, and celebrating the universal truth that with (bio)diversity comes abundance.

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In the decades after the pocket forest is planted, this former industrial site will mature into a lush public space, with measurable reductions in temperature and air pollution, alongside restored biodiversity and remediated soil. A shady green space of community convening and climate resilience buzzing with birds, bugs, bats, and countless other creatures as well as human activity: gathering, healing, creating, learning, making music, listening, reflecting, resting, and celebrating the universal truth that with (bio)diversity comes abundance.