Film & Discussion Series (SEPAC) - Making a Mini-Forest

The City of St. Augustine Beach’s Sustainability and Environmental Planning Advisory Committee (SEPAC) invites the public to view the feature-length film “Making a Mini-Forest” and discuss it with the director, Angelina Lee. 

The free event will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 26, at the Anastasia Island Branch Library, 124 Sea Grove Main Street in St. Augustine Beach. 

The film examines the global movement to plant “mini-forests” to address climate change and support local biodiversity. It shows people across the world using the Miyawaki Method to plant small, dense forests. This reforestation approach, created by Akira Miyawaki in the 1970s, simultaneously restores the multi-layer structure of canopy, trees, sub-trees, and shrubs characteristic of natural forests.

Hannah Lewis, award-winning author of Mini-Forest Revolution, narrates an international journey, introducing 10 organizations that have planted mini-forests in cities and suburbs, along highways, and on farmland. One person sparks the imagination of another, and another, and this ripple effect creates an interconnected network of foresters. Viewers witness the planning, planting, and care involved in creating these mini-forests. 

The film will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Lee, the film’s director, who will be joining via video conference from Los Angeles. 

SEPAC members have been exploring the possibility of creating a tiny forest in St. Augustine Beach and are excited about educating the community about this creative way of restoring our tree canopy. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to get trees that they can plant in their own yards. SEPAC will be giving away Chickasaw Plum, Simpson’s Stopper, and Southern Magnolia trees as well as Beautyberry shrubs at the event.

SEPAC has been sponsoring its film and speaker series for five years. The program is also sponsored by the St. Johns County Public Library System. 

“We are very excited to bring this film to St. Augustine Beach,” SEPAC member Lana Bandy says. “It is a great opportunity for residents to learn more about the Miyawaki method, the importance of forests, and how we all can help enhance our tree canopy. And we are thrilled that Angelina will be joining us to explain what she learned during the filmmaking process.”