Attleboro is taking steps to reduce flood and stormwater damage and increase drought resilience by creating a “Miyawaki Pocket Forest” with a diverse and dense mix of native tree species that will collaborate to deepen soils that absorb and retain water, many times more than a stand of a single tree species.
Attleboro residents and businesses are raising funds to purchase more than 500 native trees and shrubs, representing 52 different species, for a plot by home plate at the old ballfield, near Capron Park Zoo and Attleboro High School.
At 5:15 pm, Thursday, March 26, 2026, Industrial Museum doors will open for a reception featuring posters and presentations by Attleboro High School students that demonstrate the benefits of planting a pocket forest.
At 6:00 pm, Presentations:
Deanna Wells-Scott, AHS Marine Science Teacher, and Chris Hitchener, lead education coordinator for Mass Audubon’s Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary, will discuss Attleboro’s connections to the sea and the work of AHS Marine Science students.
Kirby Ruggieri, an AHS Environmental Science teacher, will discuss life in soils and how a diverse range of forty native woody plants, trees, and shrubs can be a much better carbon sponge, holding water, than a stand of just a few tree species.
John Rogan, PhD, Professor of Geography, Human-Environment Regional Observatory, Clark University, will present the work of Clark Students monitoring and measuring the climate resilience of two Miyawaki pocket forests in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Rob Moir, PhD, Executive Director of the Ocean River Institute, will discuss how densely planted native-plant stands, developed using methods pioneered by botanist Akira Miyawaki, grow faster than stands of a single tree species, improve stormwater management, reduce flooding, and increase drought resilience.
The Industrial Revolution began in Attleboro in 1780 with the opening of a brass button factory. The Earth Rehydration Revolution, a grassroots environmental movement, focuses on restoring the “small water cycle” by keeping rainwater in the soil rather than allowing it to run off into the ocean, thereby reducing the heat-trapping effects of atmospheric water vapor and cooling the local climate.
It begins here in Attleboro with a pilot pocket forest. Learn about plans for larger pocket forests to follow along the Ten Mile River and in Highland Park to significantly reduce stormwater runoff and river flooding. Discover how you can make a meaningful, lasting impact with a spade and a sapling. For more information, email rob@oceanriver.org.
Kelly Bergeron and AHS’s media team, “Blue Reporters,” will film the event.
Attleboro to welcome its first Miyawaki Forest – a step towards mitigating climate change, flooding, and improving the habitat of right whales. Attleboro Sun Chronicle
