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Invasive Plant Removal at the Joan Alston-Stewart Property, Saanich

This activity was organized in partnership with The Land Conservancy of BC

Thank you to all of the community members who joined us!

Aaron, Adam, Aimee, Alex, Alexandra, Alison, Arleen, Beth, Cary, Cassie, Charles, Clayton, Dom, Dominic, Ed, Erika, Ethan, Francine, Glenn, Ilman, Isaac, Kare, Katie, Lisa, Marco, Maxine, Merryl, Nicolas, Noah, Rafael, Rhiza, Ryan, Samara, Shawn, Sophia, Summer, Sydney, Tash, Terry and Xavier!

CLICK HERE to see ALL PHOTOS

Community Impacts

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40 community members were engaged, contributing 120 hrs to environmental action!

  • 38% visited the Joan Alston-Stewart Property for the first time 
  • 10% removed invasive plants for the first time


33 participants completed a survey, and results showed:

  • 94% felt inspired to take future environmental action
  • 97% felt a sense of belonging & connection to others
  • 97% felt their well-being improved
    • 91% said helping the environment contributed
    • 88% said time spent in nature contributed
    • 72% said time being physically active contributed
  • 94% increased their understanding of environmental issues
  • 97% gained practical knowledge (e.g. impacts of invasive species, about this place)
  • 82% developed new skills (e.g. teamwork, hands-on stewardship action)
     

Change starts with people. To have a lasting environmental impact, people need to feel connected, capable and empowered to take action.

Our activities are designed to increase:

  • Community resilience & social connection
  • Well-being through time in nature
  • Participation in climate & environmental action
  • Awareness of environmental issues
  • Connection to local places & natural areas
  • A culture of volunteerism & civic engagement
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Environmental Impacts

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Highlights

  • Community members joined us from across Greater Victoria including from Saanich, Victoria, View Royal, Cowichan Bay, James Bay, Esquimalt, Langford and Saanichton
    • Environmental & social issues don’t have borders. By bringing together people from across the region, participants see others showing up to care for places beyond their own neighbourhoods. This reminds us that we share responsibility for the people & places around us, and that we’re all in this together.
  • The family living next to the property joined us for the activity with their little girl! It was wonderful to have the people who call this special place home working alongside community members to help care for the surrounding forest
  • A fantastic group of staff from Browns Socialhouse Uptown joined us for the day, working alongside other community members to remove invasive plants and help restore the forest
  • We tackled some impressively large English holly trees! Removing these well-established invasive trees was a significant undertaking and opened up more space and resources for native trees, shrubs and other plants to thrive
  • Participants removed large amounts of invasive English ivy, helping free trees and the forest floor from this aggressive invasive plant
  • We also removed Italian arum for the very first time at a Green Team activity! Encountering a new invasive species gave participants an opportunity to learn how to identify another plant that can negatively impact local ecosystems and put that new knowledge immediately into action.
  • Participants enjoyed snacking on ripe invasive blackberries growing at the property while we worked, a delicious little bonus from spending the day outdoors!
  • Many delicious snacks and refreshments were enjoyed during our well-earned break, including lemon drop cakes, brownies, mandarins, bananas, carrots, fruit snacks, fruit gummies, yogurt granola bars, chips, juice and ginger ale!
  • Special thank you to:
    • Ethan and Shawn for their incredible help throughout the day, including unloading and setting up before the activity, helping with take-down and loading the vehicle afterwards, and even helping load the car the days before at the storage unit.
    • Sydney from Browns Socialhouse Uptown for coordinating staff to join! One of their team members also generously took the recycling and compost with them at the end of the activity!
    • The family living on the property for coming out and joining us!
  • People of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and experience levels came out including families, students, working professionals, retirees, first timers, returning GVGTers and newcomers!
  • This was our 2nd time at this location! Check out the summary of our last activity below:

What Community Members Said

32 participants shared what this activity meant to them:

"I encourage my team to get out into the community as often as we can. It's so important to be outside and there's something incredibly satisfying about seeing the results of working together as a team. Being outdoor is also so important to mental health and it's very rewarding"
SydneyGVGT Community Member
"This experience meant to be part of a community that provides a positive impact with meeting new people and making a difference in nature"
DominicGVGT Community Member
"It made me realize how small things, if done together, collectively could make a huge impact."
MarcoGVGT Community Member
"I felt like I improved the environment"
KatieGVGT Community Member
"This experience had brought me more understanding and knowledge about invasive species/plants. I have also learnt that volunteering impacts the well-being. I enjoyed spending time in nature and learning new things.."
EdGVGT Community Member
"It meant a lot to be connected with people who have the same goal as me."
RafaelGVGT Community Member
"It was a wonderful combo of giving back to the community while spending time with my teenage son. It strengthens my relationship with him."
FrancineGVGT Community Member
"Humans can make a positive difference for the world"
AaronGVGT Community Member
"It was nice to get out into nature during summer vacation"
Dominic T. GVGT Community Member
"Volunteering with my family made the experience even more special. We worked together to remove invasive plants, learned about local ecosystems, and made a positive impact."
MerrylGVGT Community Member
"That there are more people concern about environment. I was always concern about enviro."
NicolasGVGT Community Member
"This is a great opportunity to make difference in the community and to help environment thrive for a better future."
RhizaGVGT Community Member
"This experience meant everything"
ClaytonGVGT Community Member
"I really appreciated the chance to get together with others to help clean up the local environment"
AdamGVGT Community Member
"As someone who cares deeply about stewardship of nature, it's been amazing to see all these people coming together and donating their time to make a little slice of the world a bit healthier. Educational and inspiring!"
RyanGVGT Community Member
"It was very rewarding to me to meet new people."
EthanGVGT Community Member
"It was very impactful having the opportunity to pull invasive species on lochside trail, a path I use at least once a week."
SamaraGVGT Community Member
"I was glad to meet TLC board members and I'm motivated to look into joining the board. I always like to see younger people volunteering like today."
GlennGVGT Community Member
"I like getting outside, meeting new people and seeing new areas of the CRD"
AlisonGVGT Community Member
"Very satisfying to see the results of our efforts in terms of trees rescued from ivy encroachment. I nice wide zone cleared of ivy is beautiful to see."
CharlesGVGT Community Member
"It's nice to make a difference"
ArleenGVGT Community Member
"It means a lot being able to work as a group to make a difference helping the environment and caring for our beautiful island. I feel like we often feel helpless as individuals in the face of large corporations and our federal government exacerbating the negative effects of climate change in the name of profit - no one single person can fix this but together we can take small actions and in the long term significantly improve the unceded land we live on."
NoahGVGT Community Member
"I had a lovely time meeting new people and teaching people about a new invasive species! Seeing people get excited about invasive removal was inspiring"
BethGVGT Community Member
"This was an excellent way for me to connect with like-minded individuals in the community and to feel like I was making a real measurable difference on the environment. I feel good the way you feel after a run, being physically active, and feeling like i accomplished something great! I've been looking at getting involved in restoration work in the local area and this was a super easy and great way for me to do!"
TashGVGT Community Member
"This experience was a fantastic way to get out and involved in the community. It made me feel more connected to the issues and solutions that surround and cover the land around us. Getting time outside and working with others in a similar mindset makes for a great time getting to know people and for some great learning! As someone who feels like land acknowledgments are only surface level coming out and helping remove invasive species helps feel like taking more action."
ErikaGVGT Community Member
"Over the summer I struggle with not having any purpose, and it feels like nobody is doing anything about environmental issues. This helps with both. It's a way I can make a tangible difference, and connect with other people who also care and are doing all they can to help."
SophiaGVGT Community Member
"This experience improved my sense of community. Meeting people from Greater Victoria and working together to complete shared goal was rewarding both physically and mentally. This is definitely an activity I'll try again."
IsaacGVGT Community Member

Video of Summer talking about cleaning English Ivy to help the trees grow

Video of Alex & Sydney talking about helping the trees grow and seeing the impact right away

Video of Mariel & Marco, talking about being grateful to be helping the environment with their family

Community Investment Partner

Delivered in partnership with The Land Conservancy of BC (TLC), our Community Investment Partner.

Green Teams of Canada and TLC are working together to achieve our shared environmental and community objectives.

TLC provides ecological direction, while we bring expertise in community engagement – mobilizing people to take meaningful environmental action and inspiring future stewardship.

This partnership includes financial investment from the university to build connection, improve well-being, and create lasting environmental and community impact.

Special thanks to TLC staff Michelle for her valued contributions in bringing this activity to life.

In-Kind Support

Thank you to the following businesses for providing in-kind to support this activity:

  • Gathering Place for providing their fair-trade, organic spices. They are a family business based in Campbell River, BC. directly sourcing the best organic spices & more!
  • LUSH for providing their bath bombs prioritizing fresh ingredients, minimal packaging & no animal testing!

When socially and environmentally conscious businesses provide in-kind rewards for our community members, it helps us encourage local and responsible consumption beyond our activities. 

Businesses can also further enable us to run high-quality, safe and impactful activities by providing gift cards, refreshments, tools, gloves, and other supplies.

If you’re interested in contributing in-kind or have ideas for potential partnerships, please contact Ashton Kerr.

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Staff Who Made This Activity Possible

Our dedicated staff are passionate about community engagement and environmental action. Their work includes extensive outreach, activity logistics, social media, reporting on impacts, partnership building and MUCH more!

This activity was run by Lyda Salatian, our Executive Director & Founder.

CLICK HERE to SIGN UP for upcoming activities!

We Are All In This TOGETHER! The Future Depends on Us

The Greater Victoria Green Team is a program of the charity Green Teams of Canada, engaging communities in hands-on environmental action since 2014.

We bring people together to improve well-being and inspire environmental stewardship. Through activities like invasive plant removal, native species planting, and litter clean-ups, participants take practical action and see the impact they can make.

What sets us apart is our focus on people. Our activities are inclusive and accessible to all ages, abilities and experience levels, especially those new to environmental action. Many join for the first time, deepen their understanding of environmental issues and leave feeling capable and motivated to take future action.

We also strengthen and support the broader stewardship network by working with governmental agencies, non-profits, land trusts, volunteer-led groups, schools, and businesses, bringing new people into existing efforts and expanding their reach. Many participants go on to deepen their involvement, take on leadership roles, or contribute to other initiatives.

We believe lasting environmental change starts with people. By creating meaningful opportunities for people to take part, we help build more connected, resilient communities.

We can all make a difference!

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