To mark and celebrate the 70th Earth Day on April 22nd, 2021 the Greater Victoria Green Team joined forces with the District of Oak Bay and welcomed grade 6 students from Monterey Middle School to remove invasive species threatening the park. The day started with a tour of the park led by Christina Dean-Johnson who has been the park’s most loyal steward for the past 27 years. Christina spoke about the park’s history and the various native species such as Miner’s Lettuce, Camus, and Oregon Grape that call the park home. Our tour ended at our work site where we set about removing English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberry. The students took to the work with fervour – motivated by the promise of snacks! Before long, their commitment to the work deepened and the air was filled with excited shouts of discovery and joy. By the end of the day we had an impressive pile of biomass cleared and the students returned to school having helped restore Anderson Hill.
THANK YOU
A big thank you to Christina, Lana and her grade 6 students! The GVGT hopes to work more with the District of Oak Bay in the coming months.
A Photo Album from the day is found here!
Group Photo
Highlights
- We discovered a red ant nest, a spider’s nest & a snake!
- In total 24 students came together at Anderson Hill Park to help restore the park!
- Together we removed 5 cubic meters of invasive plant matter, totalling more than 48 volunteer hours!
- Snacks, snacks, snacks (including freshly baked cookies!)!
Testimonials
I’m surprised by how quickly they’ve taken to the work – I wasn’t expecting them to be so motivated! – Lana
This is so cool – I didn’t know there were so many bugs in this park! – Liam
I had a lot of fun even though it can be hard work & I’m happy that I came! – Nora
