Invasive Species Removal at Peter Grant Park, Sidney – November 13, 2022
Highlights
- 12 community members of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels joined us and contributed 33 volunteer hours total
- Thank you so much for your hard work and for making this day amazing: Brian, Finn, Khoi, Chin, Siyun, Chloe, Josie, Naohiro, Vashirasak, Yuki, Ignacio, and Miyamoto
- Extra special thank you to Clay from Town of Sidney for helping out!
- Extra extra special thank you to Ashton, the Lower Mainland Green Team program manager, for guest hosting the activity!
- 4 cubic metres of invasive species were removed!
- Species removed included English Ivy and Daphne!
- An area of 175 metres squared had invasive plants removed from it and was revitalized thanks to the hard work of our Green Team
- 10 participants visited Peter Grant Park for the first time
- 8 participants removed invasive plants for the first time
- This activity was featured in the news! CLICK HERE to read the Victoria Buzz article!
Thank you to the Town of Sidney for partnering with us! Their support made this activity possible, and we appreciate their commitment to empowering local communities in carrying out environmental stewardship!
Before & After Photos
On Sunday November 13, 2022, the Greater Victoria Green Team hosted an invasive species removal activity in partnership with the Town of Sidney! 12 awesome community members spent the morning removing invasive English ivy from Peter Grant Park. It was a great opportunity to check up on the trees we planted in September and continue working on revitalizing this beautiful, local ecosystem. It was also very inspiring to see people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experience levels come together to contribute to the improvement of their community and feel a sense of belonging.
By learning about environmental issues such as those caused by invasive species in a hands-on way, communities are better equipped to tackle such problems. Additionally, our community members met new people, gained new skills and were able to experience the benefits of being out in nature including reduced levels of stress and anxiety, and improved moody, memory, focus and mental clarity. Not to mention the great physical exercise everyone got while restoring the area! By connecting people to nature, we help instil responsible environmental behaviour that extends beyond our activities.
Thank you to Lush, Green Beaver, Tru Earth, OLA Bamboo, Nature Bee Clean, Elate, and Fatso for donating eco-gifts for our hard-working community members to take home!
Our community members took home a thank you gift from one of our in-kind supporters! If you have any suggestions for sustainable/eco-friendly rewards, know of or own a business who would like to provide in-kind to our Green Team, please contact Maria or Kaitlin at maria@greenteamscanada.ca or kaitlin@greenteamscanada.ca
Volunteer Testimonials
“The impact of this program is building a sense of community while making a positive impact on the environment.”
– Josie
“I enjoyed meeting new people. This program has a big impact!”
– Yuki
Community in Action!
This activity was organized by the Greater Victoria Green Team‘s Program Manager, Maria Varem and Program Coordinator, Kaitlin Warren, and guest-hosted by the Lower Mainland Green Team‘s Program Manager, Ashton Kerr!
Maria and Kaitlin have both been hired as part of Green Teams of Canada‘s Youth Leadership Program, and are gaining hands-on experience organizing and leading communities, and are also helping strengthen and build our organization!