In defense of Miyawaki forest intervention

To the Editor,

I want to cry foul on the article about the Miyawaki forest because it struck me as alarmist. I understand that it’s creepy watching trees being taken down if the intent is not clear and certainly if there has been no notice. And right now there’s heightened tension running through the veins of our city that too many mature trees, especially, are being taken down for dubious reasons.  But if there’s anybody who understands the Miyawaki forest “rules” and the need to “read landscape” in real time so as to respond sensitively to fluctuating stresses on woodland, it’s Alexandra Ionescu.

Ionescu is associated with Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, a group of original and practical thinkers, well-grounded in science and ecology.  The group teaches, learns, and enacts nature-based solutions to respond to climate breakdown.  It’s the last sort of organization to be making careless interventions in the mini-forest they and this community planted with such care.  From my point of view the author’s tilt toward alarm nevertheless opens a chance for the public to learn more of the nuances of working with natural systems to help restore climate regulation and biodiversity.  Apprenticing to landscape, asking better and better questions, thinking in wholes not fragments, coming to understand key aspects of climate like water cycles and soil quality – these are the powerful and humbling pursuits of concerned people.

I wish Joni Seager had been a touch more circumspect, or pursued her concern by asking hard questions.  And I invite author Marc Levy to explore this lesser-known territory deeper and wider. It will be worth it.

Nonie Valentine, Washington Avenue, Cambridge

A stronger

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