SUGi
London, England, United Kingdom · Nonprofit · Global · since 2019
Dense native 'pocket forests' planted with communities in cities on five continents
About
SUGi was founded in 2019 by Elise Van Middelem and creates small, dense, native-species 'pocket forests' in urban areas using the Miyawaki method, working through a network of local 'Forest Makers' and funding from corporate partners and donors. Its website describes it as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; its largest concentration of forests is in London. Its 2025 Impact Report counts 263 pocket forests in 62 cities across 28 countries since 2019, covering 215,020 square metres, and reports monitoring of survival, plant height and birdlife.
What they run
Network of 33 Miyawaki pocket forests across London boroughs including Newham, Barking and Dagenham, Lambeth and Kensington and Chelsea, the second-largest concentration of SUGi forests worldwide.
Training and resources for communities and schools to create and maintain their own pocket forests.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hectares restoredto date | 2025 | 22 | Organization-wide | Estimated | sourceConverted from '215,020 m2 of pocket forests worldwide' since 2019 in the 2025 Impact Report |
| Survival rate (%) | 2025 | 86 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceSUGi 2025 Impact Report: mean plant survival rate 86.0% across 91 forests not yet self-sustaining |
| Trees planted | 2025 | 40,213 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceSUGi 2025 Impact Report, p.10 'Data & Monitoring': Native Trees Planted '+40,213 since 2024' (31 new forests in 2025) |
Upcoming events
- Sleeping Beauty Webinar | From ideas to implementationRegisterMon, Nov 9, 2026, 10:00 AM GMT+1 · Other · Online
- Generation Hope: Climate Action TogetherRegisterThu, Nov 19, 2026, 6:30 PM GMT · Other · London