Nicole Taylor told a crowd gathered outside Belmont High School on Oct. 4 that she felt relieved to learn that her family friend Grigio was doing well after putting down roots in a new home. Literally.
Taylor’s family fostered and cared for the gray dogwood (“grigio” means gray in Italian) before replanting it 12 months ago in the Miyawaki Forest at the school.
Miyawaki Forest Action Belmont (MFAB) led the effort to create the miniforest, and last October 4, 275 volunteers planted more than 1,100 saplings, according to the group’s website.
This year, the community came together to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the densely planted grove on the school’s front lawn.
As previously reported by The Belmont Voice, a Miyawaki forest is “an ultra-dense, biodiverse pocket forest that recreates the complexity of natural forests and the relationships and processes that help them grow strong and resilient,” according to the nonprofit Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (Bio4Climate). “By giving [a] home to a vast array of native species, they boost the biodiversity of the area and nurture pollinators, supporting and restoring ecosystems.”
Named for Japanese ecologist Akira Miyawaki, the mini forest “has the potential to inspire generations of students,” said A. J. Shaw, a Belmont High senior and leader of the school’s Climate Action Club.
Boasting 32 tree species, the natural space is both a small oasis and a living classroom. Belmont High science teacher Bonnie Chin said her students conduct “real-life fieldwork” right outside the school’s doors, where they can experience nature firsthand and learn how forests may be affected by climate change.
As part of their fieldwork, Chin’s students—as well as people across the country—are collecting data on phenology, “the study of the timing and cyclical patterns of events in the natural world, particularly those related to the annual life cycles of plants, animals, and other living things,” according to the USA National Phenology Network.
Data collected from Belmont’s Miyawaki Forest, as well as other woods across the U.S., “offers a window into the impacts of climate change and the consequences for ecosystems and human societies,” the organization said.
Celebrating the forest through poetry
Chin, Shaw, First Church Minister Martha Durkee-Neuman, MFAB members and others spoke at the gathering celebrating the forest’s first birthday, followed by readings of student poems that won or received honorable mention in MFAB’s 2026 Mini Poetry Contest.
Ava Sherman, a ninth grader who won the 9–10th grade category for her work, “The Metaphor,” said she spent a long time creating and editing her piece.
Asked what inspired her to write about the forest, the 14-year-old echoed the sentiments of those gathered at the celebration: “I feel better when I’m in nature.”
The list of winners and honorable mentions includes the grade category, poet’s name, grade, school, and poem title:
K-3 grade
Iris Colman, kindergarten
Lowell Elementary (Watertown)
“Fly”
4-6 grade
Sahana Arun, fifth grade
Chenery Upper Elementary
“What It Becomes”
7-8 grade
(co-winner)
Ava Miller, seventh grade
Belmont Upper Middle School
“Birds and Bees are Singing”
7-8 grade
(co-winner)
Kaelyn Shen, seventh grade
Belmont Upper Middle School
“An Autumn Forest”
9-10 grade
Ava Sherman, ninth grade
Boston University Academy
“The Metaphor”
11-12 grade
Zoé Marion, 12th grade
Belmont High School
“Rebirth”
Honorable Mentions
K-3
Sullivan Troiano, second grade
Home school
“Belmont’s Miyawaki Forest”
4-6
Noelle Shen, fifth grade
Chenery Upper Elementary
“Lovely Mini Forest”
4-6
Elodie Luce, sixth grade
Chenery Upper Elementary
“Peaceful Moment”
9-10
Yifei Tang, ninth grade
Belmont High School
“The Dove Tree”
9-10
Alice Song, 10th grade
Belmont High School
“Standard Deviation”
11-13
Megan Espelin, 12th grade
Belmont High School
“The Oak”
More information
To learn more about Miyawaki Forest Action Belmont (MFAB), visit miyawakiforestbelmont. netlify.app/
To learn more about the USA National Phenology Network, visit usanpn.org.
