Invasive Species Removal at Peter Grant Park, Sidney – September 9, 2023
*link new Flickr album above
Highlights From The Day
- 22 amazing members of the community joined us and contributed a total of 72 hours!
- Thank you to everyone for participating: Angelica, Attacus, Carol, Chloe, Harvey, Jiazhu, Jordan, Liv, Maria, Marianne, Nataliya, Peyton, Randolph, Rhys, Rob, Stephanie, Susanna, Theo, Tillie, Valerie, Wallace, and Warren
- Together our team:
- Removed a volume of 5 cubic metres (over 31 bathtubs full) of invasive plant material!
- Revitalized about 215 square metres of the park!
- Scroll down to see before and after photos, as well as some in-action shots!
- All ages, backgrounds, and experience levels were engaged including families, returning Green Team volunteers, and first-timers!
- 13 people visited Peter Grant Park for the first time
- 7 people removed invasive plants for the first time
- Our Community Investment Partner, the Town of Sidney, provided direction and funding to make this activity possible!
This was our fifth time working in this park and we look forward to returning to continue our restoration work together! Our next activity in Peter Grant Park will be taking place on Saturday, September 23, 2023 where we will be planting native trees and removing invasive species as part of Sidney’s Tree Appreciation Day! There is still space to join! RSVP and more details can be found HERE.
Before & After Photos
Why Do 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!
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
Partner For This Activity
A big thank you to the Town of Sidney for partnering with our charity, Green Teams of Canada and providing the financial support and direction to make this activity possible – a big shoutout to Cliff for all your support!
Thank you for recognizing the importance of collaboration in community engagement and ecological restoration! Together we are restoring habitat and creating connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship!
We are so excited to be returning to this park in a matter of weeks to plant native trees and remove invasive species! Please RSVP through our Meetup page HERE.
Community In Action!
What Participants Are Saying…
“I am truly impressed at how well organized the event was, in every way imaginable. As a newby to Green Teams, I felt completely welcome and it was easy to engage in the task the way you presented and laid it out. I also felt my being there had a genuine, clear and meaningful purpose, which isn’t always the case with all volunteer gigs. Knowing someone had gone to the trouble of making brownies for us, was the icing on the cake!!”
Susanna
“I found it really refreshing to be able to come out into the outdoors and pull out invasive species and actually do hands-on work for benefitting the environment, benefitting our native plants and spaces.”
Peyton
Thank you to the fantastic local eco-friendly businesses Wildside Soap and Candle Co., Earth Rated and Tru Earth that donated In-kind products 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 Kaitlin at kaitlin@greenteamscanada.ca
Our Staff
This activity was run by our Program Manager, Kaitlin Warren (second from the right) and our Program Coordinator, Severine Tyszewicz (far right).
Severine was hired as part of the Youth Leadership Program, intended to empower the next generation of environmentally-focused community organizing!