The Greater Victoria Green Team spent the day engaging 17 community members at Anderson Hill Park in Oak Bay. We primarily removed Himalayan Blackberry, with some English Ivy and Gorse as well. Invasive species have been identified to be the second largest threat to global diversity and according to The Nature Conservancy, worldwide spending on invasive species totals $1.4 trillion every year, equal to 5 percent of the global economy! The species we removed today are very hardy, and have very successful reproduction strategies so they can take over the natural Garry Oak habitat of this beautiful park. Some of the native species we saw in the area were Oregon Grape, Garry Oak, Camas and Chocolate Lilies!

THANK YOU

Thank-you to everyone for participating: Ramisa, Houtian, Rhiannon, Ryan, Hong, Chloe, Tristan, Yating, Daniel, Miki, Thadd, Patty, Chenxi, Annie, Richard and Julian

Thank-you very much to the Friends of Anderson Hill Park for partnering with us and contributing to our Green Team activities and for recognizing the importance of collaboration in community engagement and ecological restoration!

Group Photo!

Highlights

• In total 17 community members participated and contributed to 52 volunteer hours!
• 16 volunteers were introduced to Anderson Hill Park, while 3 volunteers had never removed invasive species before!
• We removed 8 cubic metres of invasive plants!
• There were really beautiful blooming native species around the park, such as Camas, Chocolate Lilies and Garry Oaks!

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

Volunteer Testimonials

“This is such important stewardship for our parks. It is appreciated by people who use the park and they comment upon it. Taking care of our environment starts with the little things and the spirit is contagious. All municipalities and different levels of government should be aware of this of this important contributions of the citizens and help foster it… a win/win situation” – Patty

“It was such a great experience today. The key organizer welcomes everyone and is very friendly and organized. There was lots of good equipment to do the work, The orientation was meet and greet is very warm and inclusive. It was great to see new faces and chat a bit. I bumped into someone who works for the same company as me. Small world! It was great today” – Aaron

“It’s good for people’s mental health to be able to get outside, connect, and do good things for the environment. The invasive species will be back, and we will remove them again.” – Tristan

The park was full of native species and creatures! Here we have some Camas, a snail and a nice Garter snake.

Action Shots

Volunteers Enjoying In-kind Gifts from Tru Earth, and Green Beaver Co!