ACT

Downer, ACT

Downer (Cole St)
Established in: 2020

Led by Edwina Robinson, Downer became Canberra’s first climate-cooling microforest. More than 1,800 native plants were established using dense planting and water-harvesting design, transforming a dustbowl into a thriving habitat within a year. Downer became the model that inspired microforest projects across the ACT, NSW, Victoria and beyond.

Watson, ACT

Watson (Wade St)
Established in: 2021

Led by Purdie Bowden, Liz Adcock and Joan Cornish, the Watson Microforest raised more than $80,000 and planted over 1,200 native plants. Indigenous partners shaped workshops, bush-food activities and cultural elements. Designed with water harvesting, habitat features and a nature-play trail, the site has become a local hub for families, carers and community events.

Holt, ACT

Gawari Mada - Holt (Boyle Place)
Established in: 2022

Led by Jennifer Bardsley, Gawari Mada (meaning “Bush Land”) brought more than 1,500 native plants, water-harvesting features and nature-play elements to a formerly barren park. The site now supports pollinator habitat, threatened Black Cypress Pine communities and ongoing community activation, and has become a hub for ANU and ArtsACT creative programs.

Gindilanwari - Dunlop, ACT

Gindilanwari - Dunlop Microforest (Buncle Place)
Established in: 2025

Gindilanwari (“Joyful Place”) is a community-built microforest funded through the ACT Government’s Cooling Your Suburb program. With 1,500 native plants and sub-surface water-harvesting trenches designed by PLACE Lab, the project aims to cool a hot suburb, restore habitat and create a new gathering place for local residents.

NSW

Moruya, NSW

Moruya, NSW (Page & Campbell St)
Established in: 2023

Led by Sharlene Cohen, Wendy Jones and Edwina Robinson, Moruya created the Eurobodalla’s first Miyawaki-style microforest beside St John’s Anglican Church. With 1,500 rainforest plants grown locally and donated species from Council, the project is restoring rare Dry Rainforest habitat and giving the community a new shaded, nature-rich gathering place.

Crestwood, NSW

Queanbeyan, NSW (Blackall Avenue)
Established in: 2024

Led by Mitch Porteous and Rebecca Gredley-Porteous, brought the community together to plant 1,500 native, climate-resilient plants. A council survey one year after planting reported overwhelmingly positive feedback — highlighting its impact on neighbourhood connection, local pride and shared purpose, and helping spark interest in further sites across the region.

Broulee, NSW

Broulee (St Peter's Anglican College)
In development

A partnership between parents, educators and local experts, the Broulee Microforest will restore endangered Coastal Littoral Rainforest and expand the school’s existing bush program.

Designed to also servce as a national pilot, it will embed the forest into classroom learning and trial simple biodiversity and microclimate monitoring — creating a model other schools can adopt across Australia.

Karabar, NSW

Queanbeyan, NSW (Ash Street)
In development

With council support and an approved site, the Karabar Microforest is now entering its leader-formation stage. The project is building a new working group drawn from local residents, youth organisations, and nearby schools, including early engagement with Karabar High School. This group will shape the design, guide fundraising, and carry the project into planting.

If you’re local and want to help shape this microforest, join the working group.

VIC

Black Hill Microforest

Ballarat (Peel Street North)
In development

Led by Colleen Filippa and Stuart Porteous, the Black Hill Microforest is being shaped beside the local post office and within walking distance of three schools., including project partner Blackhill Primary School.

Early planning is underway, supported by a $9,500 City of Ballarat grant. The project will bring 1,500 native plants, water-wise landscaping and community involvement to an underused reserve — with fundraising and co-design progressing through 2025.

Why you should join and get involved

You help create a real place in your neighbourhood — not theory, an actual forest. You meet people, learn by doing, and see the impact grow every week. The work is structured, supported and finite.

The outcome is something you can walk past for years and say I helped build that.