Thank you so much Greater Victoria Green Team participants for your hard work and enthusiasm:
Aislinn, Anand, Arjeet, Becca, Brandi, Bryn, Consuelo, Danielle, David, Eric, Erin, Evan, Everitt, Gustav, Huxley, Jason, Jenna, Jonas, Judy, Julien, M., Mark, Megan, Melissa, Melodie, Mia, Michael, Rachel, Shinta, and Victoria!
What a fun day we had connecting people to one another and nature, all while restoring habitat! Keep on reading to find impacts, highlights and more from the day…
Impacts
- 30 community members engaged
- 100 hours contributed to habitat restoration
- 10 people removed invasive Himalayan blackberry for the first time
- 13 people visited Highrock Cairn Park for the first time
- 19 cubic metres (119 bathtubs full) of invasive plant material removed
- 550 square metres of habitat revitalized
Highlights
- This activity took place as part of the Township of Esquimalt’s Earth Day celebration wherein parks staff engaged local students in a variety of ecological restoration tasks including native species planting, invasive plant removal, and trail building!
- As part of the large-scale Earth Day celebration event there were a variety of booths set up providing education to participants and passersby alike. There were even goats on site to help dispose of the invasive plants we removed!
- Community members enjoyed the additional education provided by our plant signs, learning about identification in a fun, creative way!
- We had many passersby interact with our plant signs, and with the work we were doing! They learned more about local native and invasive species!
- Highrock Cairn Park has been the location of the Township of Esquimalt’s Earth Day celebration for many years with this year’s celebration being the largest recorded to date with a total of 800 participants across the whole day!
- All ages, backgrounds, and experience levels were engaged including nearby residents, returning Green Team members, and first-timers!
Community Investment Partner
A huge THANK YOU to the Corporation of the Township of Esquimalt for partnering with our charity, Green Teams of Canada, and making this activity possible with their financial support and direction!
Through the support of the Esquimalt Local Grant we are able to work together to achieve our common goals and create connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.
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
Greater Victoria Green Team Program Manager, Kaitlin Warren and Program Coordinator, Severine Tyszewicz, work hard behind the scenes to bring these high-quality activities to you.
Partnership building, outreach, social media, activity logistics, leading on-the-ground, reporting on impacts and more – they can do it all!
Severine was hired as part of Green Teams of Canada’s Youth Leadership Program, intended to empower the next generation of environmentally-focused community organizing.