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Good practice Imported

Urban Micro-Lungs — Miyawaki Method Mini-Forests in East Amman

Jordan · Amman · See the Jordan profile · See the Amman profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 76% 33/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Amman's municipality and Germany's GIZ adapted the dense Miyawaki afforestation method — first tried in the Middle East here — to plant native, irrigation-free mini-forests up to 250m² in East Amman's poorest districts, under an €8m BMZ-funded programme (2017–2021).

€8,000,000
BMZ/GIZ funding (ILCA project)
250 m²
Largest public mini-forest site
18 of ~40 collected
Native species used at public sites
Urban Micro-Lungs — Miyawaki Method Mini-Forests in East Amman

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Greater Amman Municipality / GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation)
Period
2017-2021
Keywords
urban forestry, dryland afforestation, green infrastructure, climate adaptation

Context

Amman's East district is densely populated, low-income and short on green space in an arid climate, prompting a GIZ/BMZ-funded response with Jordan's Ministry of Environment and Greater Amman Municipality.

Activities

The 'Urban Micro-Lungs' initiative adapted the dense, multi-layered Miyawaki afforestation method — for the first time in the Middle East — using around 40 native species (18 used at public sites) planted at about three seedlings/m2 with engineered soil; three sites have been planted since a November 2018 private-garden pilot, including two public parks in November 2020 (largest 250m2), needing irrigation for 2-3 years before self-sustaining.

Results

Reported outcomes are mostly at output level — sites built, funding spent (up to €8m BMZ), a plant-species selection guidebook published for GAM to scale city-wide — plus anecdotal sightings of new birds and insects by gardeners; no quantified biodiversity, carbon or temperature monitoring for the Amman sites has been published.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
GIZ implementing team, Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), Jordan Ministry of Environment

Conditions for success

  • Native species selection matched to arid climate (~40 species trialled, 18 used at public sites)
  • 2-3 years of irrigation required before forests become self-sustaining
  • Plant-species selection guidebook produced for GAM to replicate city-wide

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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