The Greater Victoria Green Team spent the day engaging 15 community members in an area covered with large amounts of invasive species.

We primarily removed Himalayan Blackberry, along with Scotch Broom, English Ivy and Daphne. All of these invasive species were going together, taking over the wonderful natural biodiversity of this park. Having so many invasives growing together created a “multi-story” effect, where scotch broom and blackberry grow above and create a wall, and english ivy and daphne grow underneath to cover the soil. By cutting these species back, this created more sunlight and space for native species to grow back and encourage the native biodiversity. Some of the native species we saw in the area were Salmonberry, Osoberry, Pacific Crabapple and Nootka Rose!

THANK YOU

Thank-you to everyone for participating: Richard, Lucia, Kris, Jason, Stephanie, Chenxi, Marianne, Derek, Chloe, Joe, Braedan, Mieka, Joy and Rosanna!

Thank-you very much to Esquimalt Parks and Recreation for contributing to our Green Team activities and for recognizing the importance of collaboration in community engagement and ecological restoration!

Group Photo!

Highlights

• In total 15 people participated and contributed to 44 volunteer hours!
• 13 volunteers were introduced to Macaulay Point, while 5 volunteers had never removed invasive species before!
• We removed 29 cubic metres of invasive plants from an areas measuring 170 square metres and removed 4 types of species of invasive plants!
• We saw 3 Bald Eagles and a Turkey Vulture!

Before and After Photos

This activity not only benefitted the environment, but also the participants themselves. By being out in nature doing something positive as a team, our community members:

• Develop a sense of belonging to community and place
• Have improved mental and physical health
• Connect to nature, which leads to environmentally responsible behaviour
• Learn about local environmental issues and actions they can take
• Learn the value of bringing together people to work towards a common goal
• Become leaders in their communities
• Increase confidence, resilience and perseverance

Noah (Esquimalt Parks staff) using a chainsaw to take down a massive Scotch Broom!

Action Shots

Thank you to Tru Earth and Green Beaver for providing In-Kind Rewards for our hard working volunteers!