🌳 The Last Tiny Forest – What We Learnt Along the Way

Our Tiny Forest Tour with Earthwatch came to an end at Ringwood Hill in Newport – and after visiting several very different Tiny Forests, it felt a little poignant knowing this was our last one.

The Ringwood Hill Tiny Forest was planted in March 2026 by children from St Gabriel’s RC Primary School and the local community. It sits beside a housing estate on a walking loop leading up into mature woodland – another completely different setting from the other forests we’d visited.

The young forest seemed to be coping reasonably well with the brutal conditions of summer 2026. Interestingly, the mature woodland was providing shade and protection to the upper part, while the more exposed trees lower down appeared a little more stunted. Another reminder of just how much location and local conditions can influence these young forests.

We met Grace and Divya from Earthwatch, and while Daniel and Grace got started with measurements to see how the trees were coping, Divya and I headed onto the neighbouring estate to knock on a few doors and let people know what was happening.

We received a lovely welcome and had some good conversations about the Tiny Forest sitting almost on people’s doorsteps. Hopefully a few more local people now know what it is and will become interested in watching and caring for it.

Later we carried out more citizen science with visitors before stopping for lunch – cheese toasties from Silver Sal accompanied by refreshments courtesy of Earthwatch!

As we finished, it was good to reminisce with the Earthwatch team about our tour. Every Tiny Forest had been different: different landscapes, different communities and different challenges. That’s probably what made the journey so interesting.

It also made Daniel and me think more preciously about our own Tiny Forest in Barnet. We planted trees there, but the real challenge is what happens afterwards – watching them grow, collecting the science and, most importantly, building a community that cares about them.

The next few years could be difficult for nature in this country. Perhaps one lesson from our Tiny Tour is that we need to become more connected with what is happening on our own doorstep – understanding our trees, wildlife and green spaces and recognising that looking after them is something communities can actively participate in.

We saw plenty to give us hope: passionate Earthwatch staff, council Officers enthusiastic families and children, and local people curious about these little patches of woodland appearing in their neighbourhoods.

So perhaps the end of our Tiny Tour is really just the beginning. We’d love to return to these forests in future years and see not only how the trees have grown, but whether the communities around them have grown with them.

And if you’re a GoodGym member, Tiny Forest Tree Keeper or simply someone interested in nature, why not create your own Tiny Forest Tour? Walk, run, cycle or travel between a few of them, do some citizen science and discover the communities and countryside around them.

It’s a great way of exploring somewhere new – and you’ll probably come home looking at your own local green spaces rather differently.

Ringwood Hill Tiny Forest Saturday 15 August, 11am–3pm Ringwood Hill, Newport 51.5907648, -2.9482705