Rotary volunteers begin microforest project in Lakewood Ranch

Restoration ecologist Charles Reith was thrilled 15 members of the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch showed up June 17 in Greenbrook to spread sheets of cardboard and mulch to prep for the planting of a microforest.

But he said the actual labor involved took a backseat to something else.

"Everyone who works on it, learns from it," Reith said of the microforest.

Reith, who has more than 25 years of experience working in energy, mining, agriculture, environmental remediation, waste management, and academia, is hoping such projects go viral.

"Today we are doing something that will be good for the environment for 200 years," he told the group of volunteers. "This is a high performance microforest that will deliver 10 times more ecological benefit. It means flood protection, wind protection, cooling and wildlife habitat.

"This will be a 100-year forest that will grow in 10 years."

Rotarians have supported six such projects in the region, including one in Heritage Harbour and two at the Celery Fields in Sarasota.

Photo by Jay Heater

"We are taking spaces that are not being utilized," said John Freeman, a member of the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch. "We are taking grassy areas, and with the help of master gardeners, making it bio diverse."

Freeman said the target areas are generally grassy areas that must be mowed by schools or municipalities. In the case of the Greenbrook project, which borders the Heron's Nest Nature Park lake, Lakewood Ranch's Inter-District Authority must maintain the .3 acres involved.

"They are spending resources on it," Freeman said.

Photo by Jay Heater

Freeman said the purpose of the cardboard is to "cook" the soil underneath.

"This is going to be a perfect environment for earthworms," said Reith, who in 1990 received the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Award from President George H.W. Bush for his volunteer work on environmental justice in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Reith is a member of the Sarasota Bay Rotary.

The group quickly laid out of cardboard before spreading the mulch. In approximately six weeks, volunteers will return to plant more than 1,500 trees and plants. Among the trees will be sycamores, red maples, oaks, magnolias, hickory and long leaf pine.

"These will be canopy trees," Reith said. "This will be a 100-year forest that will grow in 10 years."

Laura Adcock, a member of the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch and its former president, was asked what the club wanted people to know about the project.

"Don't touch our cardboard," she said with a laugh.