Ancestral Forest

Celebrating the connection between art and nature with a sensory forest.

Pattaya, Thailand

Miyawaki Forest

Habitat Restoration

Forest Garden

Self Sustaining

After approx. two years our SUGi Pocket Forests can be classed as self-sustaining, at which point they can be handed over to nature and left alone for complexity to naturally develop.

Trees

Hectares

Native Species

Ancestral Forest is the product of SUGi and Wonderfruit's first collaboration - a 1.5-hectare interactive sensory forest inspired by Wonderfruit Festival’s guiding principles of catalyzing positive impact through curiosity and creativity at the connection point of art and nature.

This pocket forest acts as a multi-sensory journey for visitors as they wander among the sounds, smells and sights of the natural world. Peaceful meditative areas, buildings and art installations blend into the forest to allow immersion and deepening of the abiding connection between people and nature.

Wonderfruit Festival takes place in the province of Chonburi, and Khao Khieo is the last remaining area of primary forest in the district. Now protected, it was once an area of vast wilderness, formed from several different types of forest from the lowland tropical up to the mountainous cloud forests that cover the two dominant mountains. By using what remains as a reference forest, Ancestral Forest replicates the true forest ancestry of the region.

Forest Maker
James Godfrey-Faussett

Forest Partner

Forest Design

“To be able to give back to nature is so powerful. I look forward to growing our new forest while bringing Wonderfruit even closer to Nature.”
Pranitan Phornprapha, Wonderfruit Founder

Forest Report: 2023

0 Months

Forest Age

Survival Rate

Average of Tallest 3 Trees

The forest is growing well and is exhibiting a remarkable survival rate of 99%, indicating a robust ecosystem.

Planting: July 2022

Native Flora & Fauna

Sacred Fig — Ficus religiosa; Canopy: (Up to 40m)

White Cheesewood — Melodorum fruticosum Lour; Tree (10 - 20m)

Longjack — Eurycoma longifolia Jack; Understory (1 - 5m)

Local Fauna — 1. Wood Sandpiper 2. Flying Frog 3. Fruit Bat 4. Monitor Lizard 5. Little Green Heron

Khao Khieo

Khao Khieo is the last remnant of evergreen primary forest that once blanketed the entire Chonburi province. This biodiversity-rich biome still contains pockets of untouched forest; ranging from the wet meadow land, through to the lowland evergreen forests, and finally, the upland evergreen cloud forests.

The uniqueness of Khao Khieo was finally recognized by the Thai Government in 1974 and the remaining area was protected as a wildlife sanctuary.