The Miniforest and was commissioned by the art-oriented town of Mänttä-Vilppula as a unique living piece of art, bringing both greenery and silence to the surrounding area. The Miniforest is located in the Kirkonpelto area near the city centre of Mänttä. The building of the Miniforest was organized in collaboration with the city’s head gardener Marianne Virkajärvi and her team, along with individuals, volunteers and companies.

Science partner:
The Miniforest science partner is Co-Carbon. Co-Carbon is a multidisciplinary research project aiming to quantify the carbon storage of green spaces at different urban scales using novel measurements and process-based models. A wide range of socio-ecological factors will be considered while evaluating the planning and management needs of carbon-smart green spaces.

https://cocarbon.fi/tutkimus/taideyhteistyo/

CARBON-WISE MINIFOREST
The over 200 trees and plants, and the soil of Miniforest store approximately 48,1 tons of carbon in a year. It varies from year to year as shown in the figure. For this, Miniforest has been considered as a holistic ecosystem, and its capacity to store carbon dioxide has been simulated by using two models (SUEWS and Yasso). Since these models require meteorological data, the simulations have been run assuming the Miniforest is 20 years old during meteorological years of 2017-2021.


Photos: Marko Marin

Website of Art Town Mänttä-Vilppula