Research & reports

· Wikipedia · Global

The 'Forest gardening' URL now redirects to a section within Wikipedia's merged 'Agroforestry' article. Per that section, forest gardening is a low-maintenance, perennial, woodland-modeled food production system practiced since prehistoric times in the tropics; horticulturist Robert Hart coined the term and adapted it for temperate climates in the 1980s. The article states Kerala, India has 'no fewer than three and a half million' forest gardens, citing one 0.12-hectare plot found to contain 23 young coconut palms, 12 cloves, 56 bananas, 49 pineapples, and 30 pepper vines.

· Wikipedia · United Kingdom

This Wikipedia article covers Robert Hart (1913-2000), a British horticulturist credited as the pioneer of temperate-climate forest gardening. He converted a 0.12-acre (500 sqm) orchard at his Shropshire home into a model forest garden structured in seven layers (canopy, low-tree, shrub, herbaceous, ground-cover, rhizosphere, and vertical/climber). The article also notes he followed a roughly 90% raw vegan diet, citing the Hippocratic maxim to 'let food be thy medicine.'

· Wikipedia · United States

This Wikipedia article covers the Beacon Food Forest, an urban food forest on public land in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood, described as the largest food forest on public land in the United States. Jacqueline Cramer and Glenn Herlihy proposed the concept in 2009; the project received a $20,000 grant in 2010 and a $100,000 development grant in December 2011, with initial planting of 1.75 acres in September 2012. It added 27 P-Patch garden plots in 2014, expanded by 1.5 acres in 2019, and its Food Forest Collective gained nonprofit status in August 2017.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

This official U.S. EPA page on 'The Effects' of nutrient pollution explains that excess nitrogen and phosphorus entering air and water cause algal blooms, degrading water quality and reducing dissolved oxygen. It states cyanobacteria can release toxins that sicken people and animals via contact, drinking water, or contaminated seafood, that nitrates in drinking water pose risks to infants, and that excess airborne nitrogen contributes to ammonia and ozone formation. The page itself contains no specific numeric statistics on economic damages or dead-zone area.

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on nitrogen fixation (the chemical process converting inert nitrogen gas into biologically usable nitrogen compounds) states that, as one legume example, nitrogen fixation by red clover can range from 50 to 200 lb/acre (56 to 224 kg/ha). It states the marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium is thought to account for 'almost half' of nitrogen fixation in marine systems globally, and that the amount of nitrogen fixed in the ocean is at least as much as on land. It also credits the spread of Haber-process nitrogen fertilizer with helping expand the human population from about 2 billion in the early 20th century to over 8 billion today.

AVVN · AVVN (official) · Netherlands

The official site of AVVN, the Dutch federation of allotment/community gardening associations. It describes its mission as bringing together garden enthusiasts, associations, and green initiatives across the Netherlands, and operates a knowledge bank (covering social greening, vegetable gardens, natural/sustainable gardening, and association management), webinars and activities, and news articles. It is based at Rijnzathe 12, Utrecht. The homepage displays a member/affiliate count of '+1,489.' The page itself does not state a founding year, which could not be confirmed here.

Stichting DakAkker · Stichting DakAkker (official) · Netherlands

The official site of DakAkker, a rooftop farm on top of the Schieblock building in Rotterdam. It describes itself as a 1,000-square-meter rooftop farm growing vegetables, edible flowers, and fruit and keeping bees, calling itself the largest open-air rooftop farm in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. It is presented as an initiative of ZUS (Zones Urbaines Sensibles) and the Rotterdam Environmental Centre together with Optigrün Benelux and binder daktuinen, framed as part of Rotterdam's first city initiative 'de Luchtsingel.' The roof also hosts 'Slimdak,' a test site for smart rainwater management. 'Dakennie,' its environmental education program for Rotterdam primary schools, is financially supported by Watersensitive Rotterdam, the City of Rotterdam's nature and environmental education division, and the Hoogheemraadschap Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard water authority. The page itself does not state an opening year, which could not be confirmed here.

European Social Fund Plus (European Commission) · European Social Fund Plus, Social Innovation Match · Netherlands

A case study of Herenboeren, a Dutch citizen-owned cooperative farm model started in 2016. Around 250 households jointly finance and govern each 'Herenboerderij', paying a one-off investment of roughly €2,000–2,500 and a monthly fee of about €45–80 (depending on location and meat consumption) in exchange for a weekly share of seasonal vegetables, fruit, eggs, and optionally meat. Professional farmers are employed to run nature-driven production. As of 2026 there are 23 operational farms across the Netherlands with more than 9,000 citizen members.

ByBi · ByBi · Norway

An introduction to 'The Pollinator Passage', launched in 2015 by Oslo beekeeping organization ByBi with funding from the Norwegian Environment Agency, mobilizing citizens to create flowering 'stepping stones' across the city — from large flowering farming areas to balcony flower pots — to build urban pollinator habitat. Since its launch, Norway has adopted a National Pollinator Strategy, Oslo has established an Urban Agriculture Program and a roof/facade greening strategy, and ByBi now manages pollinator-friendly practices in the city's cemeteries and the three royal gardens of Oslo.

Plantlife · Plantlife · United Kingdom

An overview of Plantlife's 'No Mow May' campaign, urging people in the UK to stop mowing their lawns during May to let wildflowers grow and support bees and butterflies. The page states that approximately 97% of the UK's flower-rich meadows have been lost since the 1930s, and notes there are around 23 million gardens in the UK, meaning even small patches can add up. It encourages extending the practice beyond May into a year-round 'No Mow Movement' of managing lawns with mixed grass lengths for nature.

Buglife · Buglife · United Kingdom

An introduction to Buglife's 'B-Lines' initiative, which states that over 97% of the UK's flower-rich grasslands (an area the size of Wales) have been lost since the 1930s, and describes a nationwide network of flower-rich habitat 'stepping stones' linking existing wildlife areas across the countryside and towns. B-Lines have been mapped across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, with a target to create and restore at least 150,000 hectares of flower-rich habitat across the UK.

東京都産業労働局 · 東京都産業労働局 · Japan

The official page of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs. The division describes its role as promoting production and infrastructure development in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries to raise profitability, while also providing spaces for education and recreation and contributing to countermeasures against global warming; the page links to related policies, press releases, and statistics for agriculture, fisheries, and forestry.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on terra preta, a fertile anthropogenic dark soil found across the Amazon Basin, formed between 450 BCE and 950 CE and rich in low-temperature charcoal and pottery shards. It notes black carbon content reaching up to 9% (versus 0.5% in surrounding soils), depths of up to 2 meters, a regeneration rate of about 1 centimeter per year, an estimated coverage of 0.1-0.3% (6,300 to 18,900 square kilometres) of the Amazon Basin, and modern biochar-based attempts to recreate it.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on attention restoration theory (ART), developed by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan in their 1989 book The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective, which holds that exposure to nature helps recovery from directed attention fatigue. It cites a 2025 meta-analysis finding consistent benefits to executive function and working memory after at least 30 minutes of nature exposure, with effects plateauing around 200-300 minutes, and notes findings that people who spent at least two hours in nature in the past week were more likely to report feeling healthy and well.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on Mycobacterium vaccae, a non-pathogenic soil bacterium first cultured from cattle dung and also isolated from soil in Lang'o District, Uganda. It cites research in which heat-killed bacteria injected into mice raised serotonin levels and lowered anxiety, and live bacteria led mice to navigate a maze twice as fast with less anxious behavior. It also notes a meta-analysis of 54 clinical trials finding improved sputum conversion and radiological outcomes in tuberculosis treatment, and a 2019 study finding a lipid from the bacterium blocks several pro-inflammatory pathways in immune cells.

· Wikipedia · Global

Soil is a complex three-phase system of minerals, organic matter, gases, water, and organisms that supports plant growth and soil life. A typical soil is about 50% solids (45% mineral, 5% organic matter) and 50% pore space, with microbial density around 10^8 organisms per gram and pore-space CO2 concentrations 10 to 100 times atmospheric levels.

· Wikipedia · United States

A bioswale is a vegetated drainage channel that captures and breaks down sediment, organic matter, pathogens, nutrients, and heavy metals from stormwater runoff via plants and soil. At Willamette River Park in Portland (1996), 2,330 lineal feet of bioswale reduced suspended solids entering the river by 50%, and New York City has built more than 11,000 curbside bioswales.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) · Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) · United Kingdom

The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) runs a campaign to make plants "an integrated part of everyday school life," offering free biannual newsletters, online training courses, a five-level School Gardening Award, and a library of activity plans and teaching guides. It also offers guided and self-guided school visits to RHS gardens and a biodiversity project with the Natural History Museum (the National Education Nature Park). The page does not state specific participation figures such as the number of schools involved.

Yuki Iwachido, Himari Katsuhara, Kaho Maehara, Mahoro Tomitaka, Kensuke Seto, Shun Nonaka, Masayuki Ushio, Maiko Kagami, Takehiro Sasaki · Ecology and Evolution · Japan (Yokohama)

A 2026 study of 69 vacant lots in Yokohama, Japan — a city facing potential population decline — quantifying six environmental factors, five ecosystem functions, and the taxonomic and functional diversity and composition of plants, bacteria and fungi, then analysing ecosystem multifunctionality with structural equation modelling, a multiple-threshold approach and generalized linear mixed models. Environmental factors exerted the dominant influence on ecosystem functions, with soil moisture directly enhancing several functions and average multifunctionality. In contrast, spatial aggregation of vacant lots indirectly impaired them, mediated by increased plant richness and altered fungal composition; urbanization affected all ecosystem functions indirectly and had a direct negative effect on average multifunctionality that intensified at higher multifunctionality thresholds. The authors note that dispersed vacant-lot configurations in less urbanized areas may raise multifunctionality while reducing plant diversity, so planning in shrinking cities has to balance biodiversity conservation against multifunctionality. The data show that greening or cultivating vacant lots cannot be treated as simply 'the more the better'.

Gao, Si, Burce, Katrina, Smith, Laney, Espinoza, Nina, Melbourne, Alfred · Frontiers in Soil Science · 米国（カリフォルニア州ウェスト・サクラメント）

Urban agriculture soils are commonly amended with compost, yet how such systems respond functionally to biochar across application rates is poorly understood. In a field experiment at Three Sisters Gardens (West Sacramento, CA, USA), biochar was applied at 0, 10, 20 and 30 t/ha to compost-amended plots under corn and squash, and late-season soils were analysed for physical, chemical and biological indicators. Intermediate rates (10–20 t/ha) improved aggregate stability and increased soil respiration; the highest rate (30 t/ha) produced the strongest biological responses, including higher microbial biomass, fungal:bacterial ratios and extracellular enzyme activities in nitrogen and phosphorus cycling. Soil pH and cation exchange capacity did not differ significantly among treatments. Regression analyses indicated nutrient availability was more strongly associated with microbial indicators than with bulk soil chemistry, consistent with microbial mediation of biochar-associated nutrient dynamics, and the patterns held broadly across both cropping systems.

Teerlinck J., Dewaelheyns V., Wittemans K., Tzoulas K., Raymaekers P., Cavan G., Steen T., Somers B. · Urban Forestry & Urban Greening · Belgium (Flanders)

A paper on domestic gardens in Flanders, Belgium, examining how gardens are used, what they are composed of, and what stands in the way of climate change adaptation in them — treating the privately-held share of urban green space as an adaptation resource. Note: this entry is written from the paper's bibliographic record and title; see the article itself for its figures and conclusions.

Berliner Forum für Geschichte und Gegenwart e.V. · Welterbe Siedlungen der Berliner Moderne (Berliner Forum für Geschichte und Gegenwart e.V.) · Germany

The page on the Britz Horseshoe Estate from the official site for the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates World Heritage property. Construction ran from 1925 to 1931, with Bruno Taut and Martin Wagner responsible for the overall plan and urban design and Leberecht Migge and Ottokar Wagler for the garden design. The estate comprises 1,963 dwellings — 679 single-family rowhouses and 1,284 flats — ranging from 1.5 to 5 rooms. The World Heritage property covers 37.1 hectares with a 73.1-hectare buffer zone, and the emblematic horseshoe-shaped main block is 350 metres long. It was inscribed as World Heritage in 2008 and designated a garden monument in 2010.

Rduch Paulina, Hodor Katarzyna, Wilkosz-Mamcarczyk Magdalena · Cities · ポーランド・チェコ

A study of Katowice (Poland) and Brno (Czech Republic) examining how family allotment gardens function as greenery in city centres, together with the legal regulations that govern them. Drawing on statistical and cartographic data, it shows a downward trend in the area of allotment gardens within cities.

Bhaskaran Varsha, Nilon Charles H. · Urban Forestry & Urban Greening · インド

A paper framing home gardens in Bengaluru as everyday environmental stewardship by residents. The bibliographic record was verified at the source, but the abstract could not be retrieved, so only the scope of the topic is described here. The same authors have published related work on home gardens and urban wildlife in the city.

· 日本建築学会計画系論文集 90巻832号 pp.1219-1230 · Japan

A paper clarifying the value of community gardens created on vacant land and the factors that generate that value; focusing on intergenerational exchange and collaborative activity, it analyzes the effects of reusing vacant spaces in complexes and neighborhoods on local community.