Thank you so much Greater Victoria Green Team participants for your hard work and enthusiasm:
Adam, Alasdair, Atsumi, Bella, Carlos, Chika, Chloe, Christopher, Emiko, Evie, Hon, Kaia, Kaitlyn, Laura, Leia, Matte, Mieka, Rhys, Rosanna, Royce, Ryan, Selena, Sharon, Viloka, and Wayne!
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
- 28 community members engaged
- 93 hours contributed to habitat restoration
- 8 people removed invasive English ivy and Himalayan blackberry for the first time
- 15 people visited this area for the first time
- 17 cubic metres (over 106 bathtubs full) of ivy and blackberry removed
- 483 square metres of habitat revitalized
Highlights
- Everyone loved the brownies, fresh fruit, and veggies to help keep energy levels up!
- Community members Leia and Rhys stayed to help with pack up – thank you so much!
- Community members enjoyed the additional education provided by the plant signs, learning about identification in a fun, creative way!
- We also had many passersby interact with the signs, and with the work we were doing! They learned more about local native and invasive species!
- Knockan Hill Park is part of the Garry oak ecosystem – an ecosystem that is endangered, with only 3% in Canada remaining in a natural state. The work we do by removing invasive species allows native species in this integral ecosystem to flourish. These ecosystems provide important habitat to a large diversity of plants and animals – particularly species at risk.
- All ages, backgrounds, and experience levels were engaged including students, nearby residents, newcomers to Victoria, returning Green Team members, and first-timers!
Birthday Celebration!
A happy birthday to Emiko who spent their day celebrating with us at our activity!
Thank you so much for including us in your birthday celebrations!
Wishing you all the best and a very happy birthday 🙂
Community Investment Partner
A huge THANK YOU to the Town of View Royal 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.
In-Kind Support
Thank you to the fantastic Canadian eco-friendly businesses Green Beaver, If You Care, and Honey Candles that donated In-kind for our hard-working community members to take home!
Please contact Kaitlin Warren if you are interested in providing in-kind.
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!
This was Severine’s last activity with Green Teams of Canada as she has come to the end of her contract and has completed the Youth Leadership Program. We are so grateful to have had a wonderful year with her!
Severine was hired through Green Teams of Canada’s Youth Leadership Program which has been made possible thanks to these funders: Eco Canada, The Victoria Foundation, The RBC Foundation, and the Chawkers Foundation. Thank you so much for supporting us in being able to inspire and empower the next generation of community leaders!