Over two days, GoodGym volunteers joined Earthwatch at Mutton Brook to investigate how Barnet’s four Tiny Forests are developing.

The oldest forest, now four years old, is tall and healthy but it has already lived through some remarkable conditions. The UK first exceeded 40°C in 2022, 2025 became our warmest summer on record, and London is experiencing increasingly frequent periods of extreme heat and dry soil. These forests are becoming valuable living experiments in how young urban woodland copes with a changing climate.

On the second day, a great turnout meant we completed the required belt transects across all four forests. Along each straight line, we measured every tree growing within half a metre on either side, creating a one-metre-wide sample. Repeating this process in future years will show how quickly the trees are growing and allow Earthwatch to estimate how much carbon they are storing.

We also managed some valuable weeding, reducing competition for water before the welcome rain arrived. in particular, thank you to Patrick and Abdellah

Among the three newer forests, the middle one where the ground was prepared with biochar appears to be faring better than those on either side. That is only an observation for now, but the measurements will help reveal whether that difference continues. This is exactly what makes the site so interesting.

Thank you to Grace, Earthwatch and everyone who came along. We hope to hold regular sessions with GoodGym and the Friends group, so come and help us follow the story of these trees as it unfolds.