Pocket Forests in São Paulo: Rewilding Urban Spaces
Brazilian ecologist Ricardo Cardim leads efforts to reintroduce native Atlantic Forests into public spaces to combat heat islands, biodiversity loss, and climate despair.
In São Paulo, diet of skyscrapers, highways, and dense housing is being interrupted by something green and alive: pocket forests. Botanist Ricardo Cardim is spearheading a campaign to restore fragments of the Atlantic Forest in urban spaces, creating biodiversity hubs in leftover lots, road verges, and broken sidewalks.
Why It Matters
These mini-forests serve as cooling patches, reducing ambient temperature in surrounding areas.
They provide habitats for urban wildlife, pollinators, and plant species often pushed out by city expansion.
They reconnect people with their natural heritage—something increasingly rare in megacities.
Challenges
Ensuring these patches are large enough, properly maintained, and connected so they don’t become ecological islands.
Avoiding “zombie forests”—spaces planted but neglected until degraded.
Securing community participation and funding over time.
São Paulo’s pocket forest program shows ecological restoration doesn’t always require grand parks or massive investment—it can start small and grow. For many cities facing climate stress, such little green patches may be lifelines.
