Invasive Blackberry Removal & Native Shrub Planting at Everett Crowley Park, Vancouver – November 25, 2023

Highlights From The Day

• 50 wonderful community members of diverse ages, backgrounds and experience levels joined us and contributed 152 hours total!
  • Thank you so much for your hard work and enthusiasm on this frosty morning: Aaron, Alex, Alison, Amy, Andrew, Angel C., Angel O., Annalise, Anwar, Brian, Changle, Chris, Colin, Elizabeth, Francis, Gagandeep, Gary, Jan, Jay, Jeevanjot, Jenna, Jessica, João, Joseph, Joseph L., Justin, Kira, Len, Lila, Liyuan, Luke, Manpreet, Matthew, Morteza, Nathaniel, Nick, Paul, Phillipp, Ryo, Sam, Shuang, Stanley, Suzie, Tej, Teresa, Tom, Tynan, Vinay, Yanan and Zahra!
    • Special thanks to:
      • EVERYONE for helping us carry our tools and supplies to and from where we were working – this was a HUGE help
      • Anwar for arriving early to help with bringing supplies to our site
      • Yanan for helping with our demo on how to remove blackberry
      • Zahra and Angel for helping set up and put away our snacks
      • Liyuan for neatly folding our tarps
      • Jan, Gary, Anwar, and Ryo for packing up our vehicle as volunteers dropped off supplies
      • Francis, Matthew and Anwar for doing multiple trips to help bring backs supplies
• 39 people visited Everett Crowley Park for the first time
• 28 people removed invasive plants for the first time
• 30 people planted for the first time

• Together our team:
  • Removed 9 cubic metres (56 bathtubs full) of invasive Himalayan blackberry
    • An additional 2 cubic metres of previously removed blackberry was also moved
  • Planted almost 100 native Thimbleberry and Red-Flowering Currant shrubs!
  • Removed invasive plants from an area of 236 metres squared
  • This activity built on previous restoration work by local youth, community volunteers and the Everett Crowley Park Committee!
• Scroll down to see the pile of invasive plants we removed, as well as some in-action shots!

• Our Community Investment Partner, the Everett Crowley Park Committee (ECPC), provided direction and funding to make this activity possible!
  • Thank you Damian and Joshua for joining us to share your local knowledge and expertise! It was awesome to work and learn alongside you.

Before & After Photos

All the native plants we planted!

The massive piles of invasive plants we removed!

Why Do 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!

Partner For This Activity

A huge THANK YOU to the Everett Crowley Park Committee (ECPC) 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.

ECPC is a sub-committee of the Champlain Heights Community Association made up of park users and local residents who work in partnership with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation to see that this green space, one of the largest parks and top 5 biodiversity hotspots in the City of Vancouver, is protected and enhanced for the long term.

ECPC runs lots of awesome programming at Everett Crowley Park year round including habitat restoration, nature walks, and other projects that support local wildlife and pollinators. Reach out to ECPC at ecpcstewards@gmail.com to sign up for their newsletter and keep up to date with upcoming opportunities!

Left to right: Damian (Chair of ECPC), Joshua (ECPC staff), Ashton (LMGT Program Manager), Andrea (LMGT Program Coordinator)

What Volunteers Said

“I feel I contributed to the community to make the park better”

– Amy

“Seeing the positive changes at the end of the event brings great joy, fueling a strong desire to do more for the environment. Thank you for these amazing opportunities, and we’re excited for what’s to come.”

– Anwar

“We’re pulling out blackberries today and it’s awesome! I’m here because my daughter signed up after hearing about it from school but I’m so glad she did it. We get to get exercise, we get to make the area nicer, we get to do it with nice people. And it’s really satisfying seeing how the ground has changed. It’s a wonderful experience and it’s great, I think everyone should do it”

– Joseph

“It’s nice to see what impact we have on nature, pulling out invasive plants. It’s also a good social thing to get connected and socialize with people and make even more impact on the beauty of our nature. The coordinators are very kind and are really into it. It’s my second time and I’m really enjoying it and I would love to do more.

Thank you very much for this amazing event. being involved in other community (gardening) projects / cleanups e.g Cape Town , Portugal , Germany The lower mainland group is an amazing example for holding well organized motivating events. It’s so nice to see people coming together in different countries who are willing to get their hands dirty and want to make a difference by having a positive impact on our nature. I have to say this was the biggest volunteer group I have been so far. WOW :)”

– Phillipp

“Removing the invasive blackberry bushes was very satisfying. I especially liked how well run the event was. Everything is well thought out and well organized. I am so impressed. I think the organizers did a superb job. The Everett Crowley committee was very knowledgable and I liked how they shared the background story of the park. I also want to comment on how welcome Andrea and Ashton were with the volunteers. They made everyone comfortable and they were also very patient and supportive. Thank you so much.”

– Teresa

“I enjoyed everything it was just such a good atmosphere and I loved and appreciated the snacks. I was truly incredible to see what we can accomplish working together. I feel this program helps the environment and connects communities. All the people who ran this were very kind, skilled and knew their stuff.”

– Samantha

In-Action Photos

Damian holding one of the monster roots previously removed at this site by ECPC!

Joseph surprised us all and played beautiful music on his accordion during our break!

Thank you Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Tom Digby for joining us for this impactful day and expressing your gratitude for everyone involved!

In-Kind Supporters

Thank you to the following businesses for donating items to thank our amazing volunteers:

• LUSH for providing Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner, Orange Shower Scrub, Sleepy Lotion, Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub and Pink Peppermint Foot Lotion!

Our Staff

This activity was led by the Lower Mainland Green Team‘s Program Manager, Ashton Kerr (right) and Program Coordinator, Andrea Robles (left)!

THANK YOU!