Beech Tree Project

The Muskoka Watershed Initiative, initiated in 2020 by the Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks, identified the need to develop a Muskoka River watershed specific Forest Restoration Project aimed at supporting long-term forest health.

The scope of the project is to select candidate sites that meet a selection criteria for forest restoration following beech bark disease infestation, beech regeneration in these forest sites impacted by beech bark disease, plant trees suitable to the future forest condition and provide community engagement of the project to raise awareness of forest health.

Sites were selected and mechanical site preparation involving the removal of regeneration in the understory of the forest sites was undertaken in 2022 with tree planting planned for 2023.

This project is being led by Westwind Forest Stewardship Inc., the not-for-profit forest management company that manages Crown land in the Parry Sound — Muskoka area.