The Greater Victoria Green Team engaged 33 community members in Mystic Vale at the University of Victoria. We primarily removed English Ivy, with some Holly and Daphne removed as well. English Ivy can grow up to 9 feet in a year, and can grow up to 40 ft vertically on a tree or building! The plant spreads by propagation, so if a stem fragment finds soil, a new section of ivy can grow. Seeds are also spread by seeds by birds! By removing the invasive plants, we are helping the native vegetation regenerate. Some of the native species we saw in the area were Oregon Grape, Trailing Blackberry and Indian Plum!

THANK YOU

Thank-you to everyone for participating: Teresa, Jason, Warwick, Marianne, Robert, Lauren, Heather, Chad, Eli, Ivy, Ava, Tristan, Nisa, Richard, David, Shawn, Chloe, Ben, Sara, Stuart, Zahra, Ramisa, Houtian, Hong, Audrey, Larry, Sewon, Rhian, Sumin, Mark, Roy, Alex and Cindy!

Thank-you very much to the Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability, University of Victoria for partnering with us and contributing to our Green Team activities and for recognizing the importance of collaboration in community engagement and ecological restoration!

Group Photo!

Check out ALL PHOTOS from the day HERE

Highlights

• In total 33 volunteers participated and contributed to 107 volunteer hours!
• 10 volunteers were introduced to Mystic Vale, while 6 volunteers had never removed invasive species before!
• We removed 13.5 cubic metres of invasive plants!
• We were covered by Chek News on the Sunday 5pm Live News!
• Previous GVGT activities at this location:
  • February 27th, 2022
  • October 14th, 2021
  • November 8th, 2020
  • October 18th, 2020

Before and After

This activity not only benefitted the environment, but also the participants themselves. By being out in nature doing something positive as a team, our community members:

• Develop a sense of belonging to community and place
• Have improved mental and physical health
• Connect to nature, which leads to environmentally responsible behaviour
• Learn about local environmental issues and actions they can take
• Learn the value of bringing together people to work towards a common goal
• Become leaders in their communities
• Increase confidence, resilience and perseverance

Volunteer Testimonials

“I enjoyed learning a bit about invasive species, meeting new people, feeling useful while at Victoria and especially the sense of accomplishment that comes after seeing before and after pictures” – Teresa

“I think the impact of this program is that we give nature its normal course (help native plants grow again) and visibility; people from the public can witness the great impact we have” – Audrey

“Making people feel connected with nature and attached to the place and also feeling useful and that they can actually do something to protect the environment”

Action Shots