Invasive Blackberry Removal at West Beach, White Rock

May 4, 2024

Thank you so much Lower Mainland Green Teamers for your hard work and enthusiasm:

Adeline, Adrian, Agnes, Albert, Alexander, Alexis, Amber, Amos, Anton, Ben, Charles, Dorothy, Esther, Francis, Gary, Geoff, Gillian, Heidi, Hong, Jan, Jason, Jennifer, Jie, Jason, Katalina, Katie, Kevin, Lena, Lily, Lynn, Mary, Rachael, Ray, Roger, Sarah, Viresh and Wendy!

Ocean views, the sound of beach waves, amazing people and no rain? We couldn’t have asked for a better day to connect with one another and build on our past restoration work at West Beach by removing invasive Himalayan blackberry!

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

Impacts

37 community members engaged
11 people visited West Beach for the first time
11 people removed invasive plants for the first time
115 hours contributed to habitat restoration
8.5 cubic metres of invasive plants were removed (equivalent to the volume of 53 bathtubs!)
128 square metres of habitat revitalized

Highlights

This activity marks 3 years since we first started restoration work at West Beach in May 2021!
- This site has come a long way and has noticeably less blackberry growing and smaller roots than when we first started. Our efforts are working!
- Local resident Jan, who has been living in the area for decades, stopped by to thank and tell us how much improvement she has seen in the area because of our team. She observed and cheered people on as root after root got pulled out of the ground!
Many passersby thanked us for our work, and others learned new things about invasive plants and the work of our team
This activity made it into the Peace Arch News! Read the article published on May 6, 2024 HERE.
Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland, including from White Rock, Surrey, Langley, Delta, Burnaby, Richmond and Vancouver
People of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and experience levels came out including families, students working professionals, retirees, first timers, returning LMGTers and newcomers
Many delicious snacks were enjoyed during our break, including homemade vegan brownies!
Special thank you to:
- Roger for coming early and helping with our setup
- Adrian for helping set up our snacks
- Jan and Gary for leading the packing of our van – they did a better job than Ashton!
- Jen for offering to carpool and driving multiple people from Burnaby
- Alexis for helping set out pylons for our green waste pile
- Every single person who joined us for their teamwork and enthusiasm throughout the day!

"The impact is immeasurable. Besides the physical difference of removing a bunch of blackberries, we had numerous people observe us, several people ask about our work, and children attend. Spreading information and motivation can't be calculated by average statistics. We need more days to do this. We were clearly appreciated by the community (several people stopped to thank us) and it's delightful to know we're doing something good for the environment no matter how small the act is."

"I met people who I volunteered with the very first time volunteer experience in Canada! And some of others I met before while doing volunteer work. This kind of connection is really nice to make me feel be part of the community! In China, there is a saying translated as-the highest virtue is like water, the greatest truth is the simplest. I would like to say that how Ashton and her team doing is like water inspiring us, what they do is the simplest, treating our Mother Nature in the greatest way. "

"Educational, well organized and great group of volunteers. Significant impact to communities, it was so great to see so many people from other cities coming all the way to White Rock for this. I'm looking forward to our next walk on the beach and showing my husband where we cleared the blackberries."

"Seeing the transformation of the area. Absolutely incredible. It's an incredible opportunity for people to volunteer in our community. Providing education and awareness to people passing by. It's always a great experience to participate in the Green Team activities. "

"I loved getting to volunteer in my own community with others (including my daughter and her friends from Girl Guides), and see a visible result of our progress. It was very satisfying to dig up those blackberry bushes and get rid of them! I believe this is a very valuable and worthy program! It increases community involvement, a sense of pride and accountability with the community, and it helps to improve the environment and overall look and enjoyment of the area!"

Community Investment Partner

THANK YOU to the City of White Rock for providing financial support and direction to make this activity possible!

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

This was the 3rd of 7 activities we are organizing with the City of White Rock this year! With waitlists becoming increasingly common for our White Rock activities, we know our community can’t wait for another big year together.

In-Kind Support

Thank you to the fantastic local eco-friendly businesses, Green Beaver, LUSH, 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!