micro forests for change - fight back for nature!
My Story
My name's Tim and I started Micro Forests For Change in 2024. Like many people, I found the COVID lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 in the UK hard going. I worked in advertising and found that I was spending eight to nine hours a day on zoom calls. At the end of the day I was exhausted, even though I'd done no physical activity.
I'd always been a keen gardener and nature lover and realised that I needed to spend more time outside to get through lockdown. I started booking occasional days off from work just to do stuff in the garden. These days and the anticipation of being able to get outside really helped me though the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
At a similar time I discovered a part time course - a BTEC in Countryside Management - at Plumpton College in Sussex especially designed for mature students and career changers. I started the course in May 2022 and completed it a year later, spending one day a week on site at Plumpton and one day a week gaining valuable practical experience by volunteering with the Surrey Wildlife Trust or completing course work.
Armed with this knowledge and experience, I started Micro Forests For Change in the Spring of 2024. Nature in the UK is in crisis, we're in the bottom 10% of all countries globally and I want to use the rest of my working life to do something about this. Everyone can make a difference - local authorities, companies, communities and schools. You can even plant a micro forest in your back garden! We can fight back for nature and repair the damage that we've done. Email tim@microforests.co.uk to find out how you can fight back for nature.
Please also follow Micro Forests for Change on Instagram for the latest updates.
MICRO FORESTS FOR CHANGE In the news
Micro Forests For Change - press coverage (Spring 2025)
Like buses, you wait to get your first piece of press coverage and then two come along at once!
Firstly the East Horsley Parish Council Spring newsletter featured the Miyawaki inspired wildlife friendly hedge planted on Wellington meadow in late November 2024. The aim of the hedge is to create additional habitat for wildlife and to protect the existing grassland from the traffic noise and pollution from the busy A246 that runs alongside (much like the micro forest planted by the Horniman Musem). Unusually the hedge is planted with three alternate rows rather then two with the hope of increasing its density . You can read the full article here.
Secondly, the Margate Mercury covered the community planting day that I ran with Thanet District Council as part of the micro forest planted at Dane Valley Park. Thanet is the least wooded area of Kent and the piece beautifully captures the enthusiasm of the volunteers that came to help with the planting that day, they actually did a great job that we got through the session much quicker than I imagined and some stayed on after the planting to help with the mulching! The full article is here.
