Thank you so much Greater Victoria Green Team participants for your hard work and enthusiasm:
Adam, Ana, Antonio, Asahi, Atousa, Callum, Candela, Cassandra, Cheryl, Chiara, Chloe, Daniela, Ellie, Giselle, Grace, Hope, Janine, Jenn & family, Jessfer, John, Juliana, Lina, Linda, Madhav, Marin, Marshal, Matthew, Merah, Miku, Myles, Natalia, Nick, Pablo & his son Antonio, Poyraz, Praj, Ridhi, Ryan, Samara, Sara, Sean, Shuka, Tesla, Thee, Xing, & Zuhair!
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
- 47 community members engaged, including 8 UVic students and faculty members
- 21 children and 5 educators from Queenswood childcare centre were engaged over the course of the day exploring the forest and learning about ivy, its impacts, and how they can help by pulling it out of the forest
- 134 hours contributed to habitat restoration
- 15 people removed invasive plants for the first time
- 29 people visited this area of campus for the first time
- 16 cubic metres (about 100 bathtubs full) of invasive plants removed
- 210 square metres of forest revitalized
Highlights
- We spent the day removing invasive English ivy, English holly, and Himalayan blackberry plants from the forest at UVic Queenswood campus beside the Queenswood Childcare Centre.
- Queenswood Childcare Centre staff and children between the ages of 3 and 5 helped identify and remove invasive ivy alongside UVic Education students & faculty as well as community member volunteers of all ages!
- It was a beautiful day of intergenerational community connection with community members of all ages and backgrounds joining us to meet new people while pulling invasive plants together!
- Many new friendships were formed, including those between children of the childcare centre and community member volunteers! Young learners were inspired by and provided inspiration to the community of volunteers who gathered to care for the forest!
- Habitat restoration is a very satisfying and empowering aspect of environmental stewardship in which to involve the local community and is a great way to connect people of all ages with neighbours and new friends.
- We had a lot of fun working together with adult community members tackling invasive holly trees and blackberry bushes in addition to all the ivy that was being pulled out of the forest floor and off of tree trunks!
- Everyone loved the homemade brownies, fresh fruit and veggies, nuts, and granola bars, to help keep energy levels up!
- Community members and passersby enjoyed the additional education provided by our plant signs, learning about identification in a fun, creative way!
- People came to this activity from all over. It was great to have a mix of families (including childcare centre alumni), students from local schools, young learners, first timers, and long time green teamers together! Everyone learned more about local native and invasive species together as a community!
- Everyone demonstrated a high level of engagement, ambition, and enthusiasm regarding the impact of the invasive species removal efforts, and an excitement to return to the site to see the native plants flourishing!
- This multi use path is frequented by dog walkers and runners as well as the childcare centre staff and participants and this activity provided additional hope for improving forest health and increased connections between people and nature.
What Community Members are Saying
Community Investment Partner
A huge THANK YOU to UVic’s Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability 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.
A huge THANK YOU to all the staff at Queenswood Childcare Centre for collaborating with us and making this activity possible with their support!
This activity was grounded in the pedagogies of the University of Victoria’s Child Care Services. Thank you to Sherri-Lynn for helping us begin the activity respectfully by sharing historical and cultural context of this area.
We are so grateful to you for hosting this activity in your backyard, for your advocacy of hands-on learning experiences, and all of the support you have provided through planning and facilitation of this activity!
In-Kind Support
A big thank you to our in-kind supporters: Tru Earth and Green Beaver for providing their eco-friendly and health-focused products to our community participants to take home. These businesses have wonderful, sustainable products that support more responsible consumer choices!
If you’re interested in contributing in-kind or have ideas for potential partnerships, please contact Kaitlin. Your support makes a difference!
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
Our staff work hard to bring high-quality community activities to you. Partnership building, fundraising, outreach, social media, activity logistics, leading on-the-ground, reporting on impacts and more – they do it all!
Leading activities on the ground is Kaitlin Warren, Program Manager for the Greater Victoria Green Team, whose positive energy and passion for creating change inspire participants to take further action. Kaitlin is supported behind the scenes by Lyda Salatian, GTC Executive Director and Founder.
Together the Green Teams of Canada staff are fostering communities of environmental stewards and contributing to a brighter, greener future for all.