Welcome to Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance (SEMPBA)!
The Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance (SEMPBA) advocates for the protection of our globally-rare ecoregion, the Massachusetts Coastal Pine Barrens. An all-volunteer non-profit, SEMPBA develops educational materials, produces forums, monitors habitat and species. SEMPBA has a successful track record of winning local, state and federal grants, and distributes the vast majority of those funds to experts and established conservation entities who share their priorities and focus with us.
SEMPBA’s Community Conservation Center, located within Plymouth’s Center Hill Preserve, is open to the public and is often the site of conservation workshops, educational trail walks, and ongoing citizen science projects.
SEMPBA and DCR Seasonal Forestry Internship
SEMPBA is proud to be in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to provide a paid internship designed to inspire careers in the fields of consulting forestry, service forestry, forest health and environmental advocacy.
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SEMPBA is everywhere—doing everything we can to save the Coastal Pine Barrens!
Regional Collaboration
SEMPBA is proud to serve as coordinators for the Massachusetts Coastal Pine Barrens Partnership, one of 47 Regional Conservation Partnerships (RCPs) in the Northeastern United States. We believe that forming partnerships is the only way we can save the 40 natural communities that comprise this globally rare coastal pine barrens ecoregion.
Link to the Massachusetts Coastal Pine Barrens Partnership website
Research
SEMPBA volunteers are involved in research projects ranging from saltwater intrusion into Plymouth's ground water, initiatives to engage citizens in regional climate change mitigation and preparation, and a variety of citizen science projects. There's room for you and your ideas!
Education and outreach in a beautiful setting!
SEMPBA offers trainings and workshops to advance conservation within the Coastal Pine Barrens Ecoregion. Our Climate and Nature Center (above), located at the beautiful Center Hill Preserve, boasts at least eight natural communities— from beach to forest and in between—making it a wonderful nature education site. We invite schools, conservation groups, nature lovers and visitors of all types to enjoy the preserve. When you do, stop by SEMPBA's Climate and Nature Center to learn more about our unique ecoregion. What you discover may inspire you—the way it has inspired SEMPBA volunteers—to do all you can to save our Coastal Pine Barrens!
Proud of Our Accomplishments!
A small, all volunteer organization doing great things.
Join our 2025 Annual Horseshoe Crab Survey
Every spring, Atlantic horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) return to the beaches of the U.S. East Coast to mate and, in the case of females, lay tens of thousands of eggs.
The Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance (SEMPBA) will once again participate in the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MDMF) Spawning Horseshoe Crab Survey on Plymouth’s Long Beach. The information we compile is used by the MDMF, along with data from other sites around the Commonwealth, to help determine horseshoe crab fishing and management regulations.
Contact SEMPBA ([email protected]) to learn how you can become involved.
Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness
Subterranean Resilience: Predicting, Assessing and Mitigating Saltwater Intrusion is a first-of-its-kind evaluation of the community’s susceptibility to saltwater intrusion, undertaken by researchers from the UMass-Amherst School of Earth and Sustainability, and a dozen local non-profit environmental and civic organizations who undertook a parallel program to raise awareness of climate resiliency issues regarding water quality. The grant also allowed for the creation of two legacy elements: the establishment of a community water testing station, and the creation of ‘One Water,’ an ongoing digital chronicle of local water-related projects and programs.
FINAL REPORT: Saltwater Intrusion Vulnerability Assessment in Plymouth, MA Compounding Effects of Sea Level Rise on Water Quality and Aquifer Sustainability, by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Hydrogeology Group Alexander Kirshen, Carly Lombardo, David Boutt, Daniel Corkran, Brendan Moran, & Rachel KingOctober 2023
Click here to access the plant guide.
This native plant guide was funded in part by a Landscape Scale Restoration grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
The SEMPBA Community Conservation Center is located at the beautiful Center Hill Preserve, 158 Center Hill Road, Plymouth, MA.
Phone 774-773-9982; Email Sharl at [email protected].
