A collaborative moose habitat enhancement project was undertaken in the McLeod Lake area to address declining local moose populations through targeted improvements to forage availability and habitat conditions. The project involved collaboration among First Nations, government agencies, industry representatives, researchers, and contractors within a community-led restoration framework.
Habitat restoration activities were designed to improve conditions for moose while also providing potential ecological benefits for other species and ecosystem components. Project effectiveness will be evaluated through community-defined monitoring objectives, with primary indicators including changes in moose population abundance and contributions to local food sovereignty.
The project was initiated in response to the identification of a local need to restore moose populations in the McLeod Lake area. In several areas, dense second-growth forest was identified as a factor potentially limiting biodiversity, forage availability, and ungulate movement. These habitat conditions coincided with observed declines in local moose abundance.
To address these conditions, a multidisciplinary collaborative approach was established to support moose population recovery through improvements in forage availability. Restoration treatments included road restoration and forest thinning, with treatment selection informed by local ecological priorities and habitat restoration objectives.
SERNbc uses three general criteria to select specific ecosystems for restoration activities, which include:
Vulnerable, degraded and damaged ecosystems are a high priority for ER activities if they have high functional importance in terms of providing important ecological services. This functional importance or management priority increases when the ER needs of a subject ecosystem is not being addressed by existing programming.
Potential ER projects must align with SERNbc’s objectives as identified in our strategic plan. All ER projects undertaken by SERNbc need to be supported by data and analysis that describes their current state, desired future condition, management objectives, and treatment rationale.
