Thank you so much Greater Victoria Green Team participants for your hard work and enthusiasm:
Adam, Alicia, Asahi, Cheryl, Chiara, Chloe, Erdong, Haedy, James, Janice, Jeff, Joel, Kaceja, Keith, Maria, Marshal, Megan, Muen, Noah, Otone, Pablo, Phaedra, Ridhi, Ruby, Shane, Shary, Shauna, Tesla, Travis!
What a fun day we had connecting people to one another and nature, all while improving the health and resilience of the park & restoring habitat! Keep on reading to find impacts, highlights and more from the day…
Impacts
- 38 community members engaged
- 97 hours contributed to habitat restoration
- 5 people removed invasive plants for the first time
- 18 people visited Solstice Park for the first time
- 25.5 cubic metres (about 160 bathtubs full) of invasive Scotch broom removed
- 6.5 cubic metres of dead woody debris removed
- 500 square metres of the park was revitalized and FireSmarted
Highlights
- We spent the day removing invasive Scotch Broom plants from Solstice Park to increase the health & resilience of the park and to reduce the risk of wildfires.
- This activity was guided by Tianna, the Langford Fire Rescue FireSmart Coordinator, following FireSmart BC practices of removing flammable material and invasive plants from parks in close proximity to residential areas to reduce the risk of wildfires.
- We were joined by 7 firefighters from Langford Fire Rescue who helped remove a ton of invasive plants and dead woody debris. Thank you all for your support!
- We were joined by two City of Langford Councillors who came out to show their support for community initiatives! Thank you Keith and Mark for championing this community engagement activity!
- Jeff, President of Langford Residents Association Society (LRAS), joined us to help out! Thank you for all of your support Jeff!
- It was a beautiful spring day: the perfect weather to be outside
- Habitat restoration is a very satisfying and empowering aspect of environmental stewardship in which to involve the local community and is a great way to connect people with neighbours and new friends.
- Community members enjoyed the satisfaction of working together as a team to remove a ton of invasive Scotch broom and make a real impact! Listen to KC talking about the day in this video
- Community member Chiara helped us set up, Pablo helped out with facilitation of this activity and helped take photos of the day, and Jeff helped with pack up at the end! Thank you for your support Chiara, Pablo, & Jeff!
- Everyone loved the homemade banana bread, rice crispy squares, fresh fruit and veggies, nuts, and granola bars, to help keep energy levels up!
- While we had a lot of local Langford residents participating, people came to this activity from all over the region as well. It was great to have a mix of first timers, newcomers to the community, and local longtime residents together! Everyone learned more about FireSmart initiatives and local native and invasive species together as a community!
- Participants demonstrated a high level of engagement, ambition, and enthusiasm regarding the impact of the invasive species removal efforts, and an excitement to return to the site as it progresses!
- We built upon our previous work at this park that began in November. Check out the summary report from that activity here.
- Langford Firesmart will be engaging youth from Langford’s local high school in continuing on the great restoration work in this park this spring and there may even be an opportunity for us to return to this site to plant native species in the future!
What Community Members are Saying
Community Investment Partner
A huge THANK YOU to Langford Fire Rescue and the BC FireSmart Program for partnering with our charity, Green Teams of Canada, and making this activity possible with their financial support and direction!
Together we are achieving our common goals and creating connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.
In-Kind Support
A big thank you to our in-kind supporters: Tru Earth and Green Beaver for providing their eco-friendly and health-focused products to our community participants to take home. These businesses have wonderful, sustainable products that support more responsible consumer choices!
If you’re interested in contributing in-kind or have ideas for potential partnerships, please contact Kaitlin. Your support makes a difference!
Why We Do This Work
The Greater Victoria 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
Our staff work hard to bring high-quality community activities to you. Partnership building, fundraising, outreach, social media, activity logistics, leading on-the-ground, reporting on impacts and more – they do it all!
Leading activities on the ground is Kaitlin Warren, Program Manager for the Greater Victoria Green Team, whose positive energy and passion for creating change inspire participants to take further action. Kaitlin is supported behind the scenes by Lyda Salatian, GTC Executive Director and Founder.
Together the Green Teams of Canada staff are fostering communities of environmental stewards and contributing to a brighter, greener future for all.