Burnaby Environment Week Invasive Plant Removal at Central Park, Burnaby

June 2, 2024

Thank you so much everyone for joining us on this rainy day to kick off Environment Week:

Andrew, Anwar, Athena, Cassie, Caymanh, Emma, Helen, Jessica, Kaiwen, Lenita, Parwinderjeet, Ranjit, Sandy, Tony, Viresh (Wiru), & Ziyuan!

Even in the rain, we had an awesome time working together and spending quality time in nature

Keep reading for our impacts, highlights and more from the day…

Impacts

16 community members engaged
5 people visited Central Park for the first time
4 people removed invasive plants for the first time
52 hours contributed to habitat restoration
4.5 cubic metres of invasive Himalayan blackberry, English holly, and Scotch broom were removed (equivalent to the volume of 28 bathtubs!)
107 square metres of habitat revitalized

BEFORE invasive blackberry, holly & broom removal

AFTER invasive blackberry, holly & broom removal

Highlights

The wet weather didn’t keep us from gathering to celebrate the environment and give back to the community by restoring this park! We had so much fun connecting with nature and each other while feeling the rain and wet soil!
Burnaby City Councillor Maita Santiago joined us to share a few words of appreciation for our community coming together to make a positive impact!
Our work helped build on our previous restoration initiatives here and efforts by the City of Burnaby and other stewardship groups!
- Read about our last activity in Central Park on September 24, 2022 HERE.
Wiru won a prize for removing the biggest blackberry root crown! Though they don’t take up as much space as canes, removing stubborn root crowns is essential to prevent the plant from coming back
Passersby thanked us for our dedication to protect and conserve this habitat!
Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland, including from Burnaby, Vancouver, Surrey, North Vancouver, Richmond, New Westminster, Pitt Meadows, Port Moody, & Coquitlam
Among those who joined were secondary school students, working professionals, first timers looking to try something new, & returning LMGTers
We took a break from the rain and felt energized and ready for more after refueling with healthy snacks and vegan brownies!
Special thank you to:
- Anwar for arriving early to help us set up, laying out snacks, and staying late to help us pack up
- Caymanh for helping to pack up snacks after our break
- Sandy & Tony for wiping down our tools and leading the packing of the car
- The many hands who put in a collective effort to get the car packed and ready to go
- Every single person who joined us for their teamwork and enthusiasm throughout the day, even in the pouring rain!

"It is a really pleasant, well-organized and meaningful event! Bravo!!! Using a shovel and digging out the root is tiring yet fun. It is also very rewarding to identify the invasive blackberries among the bush. The signs are also very useful, invasive plants are well illustrated and explained. The collaboration among participants also impressed me. Overall 5 star experience!"

"It was a wonderful day! I volunteered and even though it was raining, I had a great time. The event was well-organized and everyone worked together enthusiastically. We helped remove invasive Himalayan blackberry, Scotch broom, and English holly at Central Park. Thank you for the opportunity, and we look forward to more chances to help the environment!"

"This was my first time volunteering here and it was really fun. It was raining, but overall we had a great team of people out doing a lot of good work. It's pretty fun so if you're interested I'd definitely say for one time just try joining, there's lots of events happening. It's been pretty great, I like it!"

Community Investment Partner

THANK YOU to the City of Burnaby’s Planning Department for providing financial support and direction to make this celebration of Burnaby Environment Week possible!

Together we are achieving our common goals and creating connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.

Sign up to join our next Burnaby Environment Week activity at Cariboo Heights Forest on Saturday June 8, 2024 from 9:45am-1pm!

In-Kind Support

Thank you to the fantastic local eco-friendly businesses, Green Beaver,and Honey Candles, that donated products for our hard-working community members to take home!

Please contact LMGT Program Manager, Ashton Kerr, if you are interested in providing in-kind or have suggestions for businesses to contact.

Why We Do This Work

The Lower Mainland Green Team organizes hands-on educational activities that have a positive environmental impact to empower people. Through activities such as invasive plant removals, plantings, litter cleanups and more, we are fostering connections with others and nature so that health and well-being is prioritized, lifelong environmental stewardship is promoted, and community members are enabled to take care of themselves, each other and the places they live. We all have the power to make a difference!

We all experience mental and physical health benefits from spending time in nature, including reduced stress and anxiety, and improved mood, focus, memory and more. While doing so, we can also have a positive impact on the environment as demonstrated through this activity!

Staff Who Made This Activity Possible

Lower Mainland Green Team Program Manager, Ashton Kerr, and Program Coordinator, Andrea Robles, work hard behind the scenes to bring these high-quality activities to you.

Partnership building, fundraising, outreach, social media, activity logistics, leading on-the-ground, reporting on impacts and more – they can do it all!