Source : Perth Now news
Almost 2000 native plants are now taking root in Bateman to form the first pocket forest on a previously empty block.
Melville residents and Brentwood Primary School students came together last weekend to transform a bare block at Ces Deceau Reserve into a thriving green space.
The tiny forest has 1700 native plants across 40 species – including 16 that will specifically provide food for endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoos – and is designed to create a green pocket in a busy urban area.
The project was part of a 2025 election promise from Bateman MLA Kim Giddens, who received consistent calls from the community to do something with the vacant block of land.
“This project started with conversations on people’s doorsteps. Local residents told me this park felt underused, neglected and full of untapped potential. They wanted to see it become a place the community could be proud of,” Ms Giddens said.
“The thing I love most about this project is that it started by listening. Local people identified an opportunity to transform an underused park, and they also spoke about wanting more trees and greener neighbourhoods. This pocket forest is a direct response to those conversations.”
Pocket forests are an innovative urban-greening initiative developed by Japanese botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki in the 1970s.
The Miyawaki method plants dense native seedlings to grow mini ecosystems up to ten times faster than traditional revegetation techniques, restoring degraded industrial and urban landscapes.
Delivered in partnership with Regenerate Australia, the new Bateman pocket forest was designed with strong community input and conversations about the lack of trees in the area.
“One of the highlights for me was seeing Brentwood Primary School students, local residents and volunteers all working side by side,” Ms Giddens said.
“Environmental projects like this do more than improve our local environment – they bring people together, create new connections and strengthen the communities we live in.”
The 200 Brentwood students planted more than 500 seedlings between them last Friday, before passing the baton to the wider Melville community to plant the remaining 1200.
The students will now be making regular visits to the site as part of their science learning, completing soil testing, monitoring temperatures and observing native wildlife as it returns over time.
“I’m especially excited that this is the first pocket forest established in our local community. I hope it’s the first of many projects that bring people together while making our neighbourhoods greener, cooler and more connected,” Ms Giddens said.
