Youth Activity! Invasive Species Removal & Native Tree Planting at Aldersmith Park, View Royal, on March 7 2023
Group Photos!
Highlights
- 150 students, and 7 teachers & parent volunteers from Eagleview Elementary School, and 4 community members, joined us and contributed to over 170 volunteer hours!
- Thank you so much for your hard work and for making this day amazing: Ms. Brain’s grade 4/5 class, Mr. Restell’s grade 2 class, Ms. Beattie’s grade 1 class, Mr. Rutherford’s grade 4/5 class, Ms. Johnston’s grade 2/3 class, and Ms. Dong’s grade 3/4 class, and all the parent volunteers!
- Thank you to our lovely community members who joined us at this activity as well: Kansas and Erik who helped not only remove invasive plants but in digging holes for the students to plant the seedlings!
- Thank you to Layanna, Miss. Earth Canada 2023, for joining one of our sessions and inspiring and supporting the students to engage with nature in meaningful ways!
- Thank you to Chris, View Royal’s Habitat Restoration Coordinator, for helping facilitate!
- 5 cubic metres of invasive species was removed!
- Species removed included Himalayan blackberry and English Ivy!
- 20 native trees were planted!
- Native plant species planted included Douglas fir & Grand fir
- An area of 214 metres squared had invasive plants removed from it and was revitalized thanks to the hard work of the Eagleview Elementary students and our dedicated community members!
Thank you to the Town of View Royal for partnering with us! Their support made this activity possible. Together, we are improving the health of local ecosystems and communities!
Before & After Photos
Special Guest Miss Earth Canada 2023!
Miss Earth Canada 2023 joined in the fun on Tuesday helping students to remove invasive Himalayan blackberry!
On Tuesday March 7, 2023, the Greater Victoria Green Team and the Town of View Royal partnered up to host a youth activity for Eagleview Elementary School! Students, teachers, parent volunteers and community member volunteers spent a fun day removing invasive English Ivy and Himalayan blackberry from Aldersmith Park. They also helped plant 20 native trees: Douglas fir, Grand fir. Their efforts have helped revitalize the habitat in this local park, and the students learned a lot about invasive species, identifying different plants, and the importance of environmental stewardship.
By learning about environmental issues such as those caused by invasive species in a hands-on way, communities are better equipped to tackle such problems. Additionally, participating students gained new skills and were able to experience the benefits of being out in nature including reduced levels of stress and anxiety, and improved moody, memory, focus and mental clarity. Not to mention the great physical exercise everyone got while restoring the area! By connecting people to nature, we help instil responsible environmental behaviour that extends beyond our activities.
Fun Times in Nature!
The students had great fun exploring the park! We found lots of worms, saw many different types of birds, and practiced using all our senses to identify certain characteristics in our natural surroundings!
Community in Action!
So much great restoration work; seeing the impact they can have helps to empower the students and inspire them to act in environmentally responsible ways!
This activity was led by the Greater Victoria Green Team‘s Program Manager, Kaitlin Warren and the Lower Mainland Green Team’s Program manager, Ashton Kerr. The two program managers joined together for a fun day of mentorship and training!
Kaitlin was hired as part of Green Teams of Canada‘s Youth Leadership Program, and is gaining hands-on experience organizing and leading communities, in addition to helping strengthen and build our organization!