Our environmental sustainability book group read Hannah Lewis’ book, Mini-Forest Revolution, about a process developed by a Japanese botanist. Interested in the concept, we did further research into Mini-Forests and found out that at the time, Iowa had none. From there, our goal was born: to create Iowa’s first Mini-Forest.  To plan for our project, we talked with people who have worked on existing mini-forest sites. We then consulted with Iowa experts and located a permanently protected site at the Brookview City Park in West Des Moines adjacent to Brookview Elementary School. Learn more about our process of making the Mini-Forest below.