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一块光秃秃的操场角落，能不能在几年内变成一片小森林？10 月 25 日，澳大利亚广播公司（ABC News）报道了新南威尔士州南部海岸一所学校的尝试：圣彼得圣公会学院的四年级学生和老师、志愿者一起，用一周时间种下约 1000 株本地濒危沿海雨林的原生植物。文章先解释什么是“微型森林”——在城市或受损土地上种植的茂密本地植物，面积通常不超过一个网球场；再介绍日本“宫胁法”的做法：把多种本地植物紧密种在一起，据组织联合创始人说可让植物生长快至正常的 10 倍，为应对沙质土壤还在地下铺设了收集雨水的黏土沟渠。接着，文章说明了项目的意义：2019–2020 年的山火让当地动植物受损，学生们希望找回失去的物种；种树过程也把科学、数学、地理和读写结合在一起。最后，组织希望把这套设计模板和课程推广到全国其他学校。注意：生长速度和高度是组织负责人的说法和预期，并非已经测得的结果。阅读时可留意 because、so that、although 如何表达原因、目的和让步，以及 according to 如何交代信息来源。

正文

On the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, a group of Year 4 students has swapped schoolbooks for young trees. Wearing wide hats and small gardening gloves, children from St Peter’s Anglican College at Broulee spent a week turning a bare corner of their playground into a microforest. With teachers and volunteers, they planted about 1,000 plants native to the region’s endangered coastal rainforest.

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在澳大利亚新南威尔士州南部海岸，一群四年级学生把课本换成了小树苗。他们戴着宽檐帽和小号园艺手套，来自布鲁利（Broulee）圣彼得圣公会学院的孩子们花了一周时间，把操场上一块光秃秃的角落变成一片“微型森林”。他们和老师、志愿者一起种下了约 1000 株植物，都是当地濒危沿海雨林的原生物种。

A microforest, or tiny forest, is a dense patch of local plants grown in a city or on damaged land. It is often no bigger than a tennis court. The school worked with Microforest Collective, a not-for-profit group. It is the first school in the state to research, design and plant one with the group as part of its lessons.

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微型森林又称“小森林”，是在城市或受损土地上种植的一片茂密的本地植物，面积通常不超过一个网球场。学校与非营利组织 Microforest Collective 合作。它是该州第一所与这个组织合作、把研究、设计和种植微型森林纳入课程的学校。

The project follows a Japanese planting technique called the Miyawaki method. Many different local species are planted close together so that they grow faster. According to Edwina Robinson, a landscape architect who helped found the group, the plants can grow up to 10 times faster than normal. The forest is expected to reach about seven metres in two to three years. Because the soil at the site is sandy, about 40 metres of underground trenches were lined with clay to catch rainwater.

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这个项目采用一种名为“宫胁法”（Miyawaki method）的日本种植技术：把许多不同的本地物种紧密地种在一起，让它们长得更快。该组织的联合创始人、景观设计师埃德温娜·鲁滨逊说，这样种植的植物生长速度可达正常情况的 10 倍，这片森林预计在两到三年内长到约 7 米高。由于场地土壤是沙质的，人们在地下挖了约 40 米长的沟渠并铺上黏土，用来收集雨水。

For the students, the reason is personal as well as scientific. Many local plants and animals suffered in the bushfires of 2019 and 2020. “We’re trying to bring back some of those endangered species that were lost,” said student Zale Neal. Robinson, who discovered the method after those fires, says careful plant choice and better soil can change the conditions in a small area and create shade.

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对学生们来说，这件事既有科学原因，也有个人意义。2019 年和 2020 年的山火让当地许多动植物受到损害。学生扎尔·尼尔说：“我们正在努力把那些失去的濒危物种找回来。”鲁滨逊正是在那几场山火之后发现了这种方法。她说，用心挑选植物、改良土壤，可以改变一小片区域的环境条件，并形成树荫。

The planting was also a lesson in several subjects. Teacher Danielle Phillips said the class first visited local rainforests, identified species and studied what different plants needed to survive. Then the students examined the site and decided where each plant should go, using science, maths, geography and literacy. Even the mulch became a maths problem, because they had to measure the area and work out the volume they needed.

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种树也是一堂跨学科的课。教师丹妮尔·菲利普斯说，全班先参观了当地雨林，辨认物种，并研究不同植物生存所需的条件。随后，学生们考察场地，运用科学、数学、地理和读写能力，决定每株植物该种在哪里。连覆盖土壤用的护根物也成了一道数学题，因为他们要测量面积，算出需要多少体积。

The group now hopes other schools across the country will follow. Its chair, Jo Abbott, said members had worked with the school’s teachers to develop design templates and ready-to-use programs. Although she had doubts about how the children would feel about getting their hands dirty, she was surprised by how much they enjoyed the hard work. The students will now grow up with their forest as they move through school.

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该组织现在希望全国其他学校也能效仿。组织主席乔·阿博特说，成员们已与这所学校的老师合作，制定了设计模板和可直接使用的课程方案。她坦言，起初怀疑孩子们会不会愿意把手弄脏，但令她惊讶的是，孩子们非常享受这份辛苦的工作。如今，这些学生将在升年级的过程中与他们的森林一起成长。

新闻来源

• ABC News · Broulee students plant 1,000 native trees to turn playground into microforest (Mikayla McGuirk-Scolaro, 25 Oct 2026)

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