Invasive Ivy, Periwinkle & Holly Removal at Ruth Johnson Park, White Rock

May 25, 2024

Thank you so much Lower Mainland Green Teamers for joining us for this activity:

Alexis, Amanda, Amos, Bahung, Brownie, Dorothy, Fairy Wei, George, Jashandeep, Kim, Lena, Parwinderjeet
Peter, Ranjit, Roger, Suzie, Viresh, & William!

Enjoying nature in the forest, ocean views, and working with awesome people? What an amazing day continuing our efforts to restore this beautiful park!

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

Impacts

18 community members engaged
6 people visited Ruth Johnson Park for the first time
3 people removed invasive plants for the first time
57 hours contributed to habitat restoration
7 cubic metres of invasive plants were removed (equivalent to the volume of 43 bathtubs!)
75 square metres of habitat revitalized

BEFORE invasive ivy & periwinkle removal

Highlights

This activity was covered TWICE in the Peace Arch News! Read the article published on May 24 HERE and May 26 HERE.
Our team continued our ongoing restoration efforts of this park
- Our work built on the recent efforts of 100 local elementary school students who joined us for a hands-on celebration of Earth Week restoring habitat! Read about it HERE.
Despite a rainy start to the day, the skies soon cleared and we got to enjoy the sun’s rays through the forest canopy
Several volunteers removed HUGE ivy vines the thickness of some tree branches, check out Alexis & Parwinder’s vine in the photo above the “Impacts” section of this blog!
Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland, including from White Rock, Surrey, New Westminster, Langley, Coquitlam, Vancouver, Burnaby, & Abbotsford
People of all ages, backgrounds, abilities & experience levels came out including secondary students, working professionals, first timers, & returning LMGTers
We got to take a break and refuel with much needed snacks, including fresh veggies & vegan brownies!
Special thank you to:
- Fairy & Amanda for helping to set up & pack up our snacks
- Suzie & Amos for leading the packing of our van
- Ranjit & Parwinder for staying to pack our tent and final few items
- Every single person who joined us for their teamwork and enthusiasm throughout the day!

"Today I met old friend knew from last event, we both were very happy seeing each other again. A huge suprise for me was that I knew a new friend! We worked as a small team, pulled out large amount of ivy's roots! It was a really tough job yet funny and full of achievement sense! I am so happy that I can know new friends from this activity! My kid also had much fun today!"

"I enjoyed spending time in the forest and seeing the transformation of the area that we were working in. I feel the impact of this program is preserving this beautiful park and the trees for the generations to come."

"It's so amazing to come out here, I'm so excited every single time I join an activity. It's great meeting new people as well. I do school online so it's really great that I can get outside and experience fresh air. It makes me feel really empowered to help the community, and I learn something new every single time I come. Thank you!"

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 4th of 7 activities we are organizing with the City of White Rock this year!

In-Kind Support

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