The Metrowest Conservation Alliance (MCA) Forest Health Initiative promotes forest management that supports the conservation and maintenance of sustainable forests with regionally appropriate plant diversity and wildlife habitat.
Components of good forest health include structural and plant species diversity, tree regeneration, canopy gaps, dead wood, and nutrient cycling.
Threats to good forest health include lack of disturbance to the canopy (which prevents essential canopy gaps), even-aged trees that shade out regeneration, excessive deer browse, and invasive species (both plant and insect). (See the SuAsCo CISMA website for more on invasive species.)
The MCA Forest Health Initiative encompasses two components:
- The creation of a Forest Health guidance booklet (planned for Summer 2020).
- The creation of a regional approach to deer management through the work of the MCA Deer Management for Forest Health Committee.
Learn more about the impact of deer overbrowse on forest health.