Thank you to everyone who participated in this woody debris & invasive plant removal!
Al, Alex, Amos, Anna, Anne-Sophie, Ariana Faye, Balian, Barb, Ben, Brownie, Bruce, Heidi, Cedric, Connor, Dean, Dorothy, Emma, Etsuko, Frank, Harry, Alexander, Joshua, Joyii, Maria, Mike, Natalia, Nobu, Peter, Fern, Shania, Steven, Susana, Lelu, Lucy, Tao, Tejassvir, Thomas, & William!
It was a sunny day in Ruth Johnson Park for our first White Rock activity of the year!
We made new friends, removed invasive Himalayan Blackberry & English Ivy, and helped to steward this new area of focus for our team in Ruth Johnson Park!
Read all about our day below!
Impacts
- 38 community members were engaged
- 19 participants visited Ruth Johnson Park for the first time
- 11 participants removed invasive plants for the first time
- 110 hours were contributed towards revitalizing local habitat!
- 13 cubic metres (82 bathtubs!) of invasive Himalayan Blackberry and English Ivy was removed!
- 140 square metres of habitat revitalized!
- Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland including from White Rock itself, Surrey, Maple Ridge, West Vancouver, Langley, Pitt Meadows, & Burnaby!
- Our activities are designed to foster a sense of community that extends beyond municipal borders. By engaging community members from across the region, we are reminded that we are part of a larger, interconnected community and have a shared responsibility of creating a cleaner, healthier environment regardless of where we call home
Highlights
- This is a new area of focus for us, building on work we’ve done in other areas of the park in the past extending back more than a decade!
- We celebrated Earth Week in this part of the Park last year with local students!
- Apr 29 2025 – Read all about it here!
- Before that, we were last here in July 2018!
- This activity was featured in the Peace Arch News!
- Check out the pre-activity article here!
- Several LMGT team members joined us at this activity after working hard and making amazing progress in other areas of the park in 2025 and earlier. Our team continues to be a big part of the stewardship of Ruth Johnson Park and our returning members were excited to kick off another year in White Rock!
- We were joined by a diverse group of participants, from students to working professionals and from long-time residents to newcomers in the community! Everyone had a great time connecting!
- Participants also learned about other invasives like English (Cherry) Laurel and English Holly as well as other native plants we found like Trailing Blackberry and Oregon Grape!
- Anna, Fern, & Emma found a blackberry stem that was even longer than our measuring tape at over 8 meters!
- Dorothy and Brownie did some great work saving some trees from invasive Ivy!
- Ben shared that he was recently accepted to UBC’s Forestry Program, his application in-part inspired by his time discovering his passion for plants & stewardship at many Lower Mainland Green Team Activities! Congratulations Ben!
- There were many beautiful Northern Flickers active around us throughout the activity! Thanks to Steven for capturing this video of one!
- We were also joined by members of the Earl Marriott Secondary School Leo Club! Thank you to these youth participants for coming out to make a difference in their community!
- We had several passing community members cheer us and thank us for our work!
- We also found a bit of trash in the woods we were able to remove like this old construction sign and a broom!
- At our break, participants refueled with fresh fruit, a veggie & dip tray, brownies, shrimp crisps, healthy granola bars, juice boxes, hot chocolate, Bubly sparkling water, and more!
- Thank you to Jonathan, Amos, Connor, William, Bailan, Al, Etsuko, Joshua, Nobu, Natalia, Fern, & Barb for helping to setup today and pack up our tools & supplies at the end of the activity!
What Community Members Said
Check out these videos of some volunteers sharing what they enjoyed about today!
Video of Natalia, talking about her first experience with our team and reconnecting with her passion for nature!
Video of Ben, talking about connecting with his community & the environment and finding his interest in forestry through our activities!
Community Investment Partner
THANK YOU to the City of White Rock for being a Community Investment Partner and providing the financial support and direction to make our work in White Rock possible! Special thanks to Andre, Spencer, and Ralph for their roles supporting this activity!
This activity was a great success and together we made a significant impact on the health and well-being of community members and the environment!
This was the first of eight activities we are organizing in partnership with the City of White Rock this year, we’ll be back in Ruth Johnson Park on Apr 4th to build on these efforts with another amazing day of blackberry removal! We would love for you to join us!
In-Kind Support
A big thank you to our in-kind supporters!
Lush provided their fantastic shower gels, body conditioner, and bath bombs with natural ingredients, sustainable packaging, and made in Canada! Our participants were really happy to take these gifts home!
If you’re interested in contributing in-kind or have ideas for potential partnerships, please contact Ashton Kerr. Your support makes a difference!
Why We Do This Work
The Lower Mainland Green Team is a program of the charity Green Teams of Canada.
We believe in the transformative power of hands-on environmental activities to empower individuals and strengthen communities.
Through initiatives like invasive plant removals, native tree & shrub plantings, and litter clean-ups, we not only foster connections among participants but also deepen their relationship with nature. Spending time outdoors has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety while enhancing mood, focus, and overall mental and physical health.
Our activities are designed to be inclusive, welcoming individuals of all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and skill levels.
What sets us apart is we attract a wide mix of young community members who may not otherwise spend time outside, igniting their passion for nature and environmental care.
We are committed to instilling an environmental ethic that leads to lasting behavior change. We aim to create a sense of belonging and connection to place, encouraging participants to recognize their ability to make a meaningful impact.
Together, we can all make a difference. Join us as we build a brighter, greener future for everyone!
GTC Staff Who Made This Activity Happen!
Our staff work hard to run high-quality community activities. Outreach, activity logistics, social media, reporting on impacts, partnership building, and more – they do it all!
Max Muehlen, our Lower Mainland Green Team’s Program Manager, led this activity!
Ashton Kerr, the Lower Mainland Green Team’s Partnerships Manager, and Simryn Dhensaw, our Lower Mainland Green Team Program Assistant, supported this activity behind the scenes!