Invasive Species Removal in Denham Till Park, North Saanich- November 25, 2023
Highlights From The Day
- 17 amazing members of the community joined us and contributed about 50 hours!
- Thank you to everyone for participating: David, Elaine, Caitlin, Ben, Robin, Erika, Asher, Rena, Mimi, Chloe, Marianne, Jordan, Charlie, Marnie, Sharon, Anne, and Tim!
- Together our team:
- Removed a volume of about 9.5 cubic metres (approximately 55 bathtubs full) of invasive plant material!
- Revitalized about 100 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!
- 10 people visited Denham Till Park for the first time!
- 1 person removed invasive plants for the first time
- Our Community Investment Partner, the District of North Saanich, provided direction and funding to make this activity possible!
- The dedicated stewardship group, the Friends of North Saanich Parks co-ran this activity with us! The Friends of North Saanich Parks have been working in this park for years removing invasive plants and they have made a huge impact, helping to restore much of this park already! We came together for a great big collaborative event to build upon the wonderful work of this dedicated group!
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 District of North Saanich for partnering with our charity, Green Teams of Canada and providing the financial support and direction to make this activity possible!
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!
This year together through our partnership we engaged a total of 66 community members in North Saanich parks! Together we were able to accomplish great restoration work and benefit so many people in the community by providing these opportunities for learning and connection!
This was our last activity of the year in the District of North Saanich, but we are so excited to be back next year for a whole lot more community engagement and environmental restoration! Stay tuned on our Meetup Page for updates and join us next time we work in North Saanich!
Collaborator For This Activity
We worked together with the Friends of North Saanich Parks stewardship group to run this activity!
Thank you so much to all of the Friends of North Saanich Parks and to Anne and Tim in particular for helping us coordinate this wonderful day of collaboration!
Click Here to visit the Friends of North Saanich webpage to learn more about the amazing work they do and how to get involved.
Community In Action!
The Invasive Plant Material
We removed so much invasive plant material that we filled the bin to the brim and had an additional pile! It made for a great group photo background!
Thank you so much to our partner, the District of North Saanich, for handling to removal and disposal of the invasive plant material!
Media Feature!
We had a local media presence at the activity who interviewed some community members about the activity! The interviews will air on local Optik TV within BC!
The community TV program features a variety of local community groups and highlights the stories of community members and different organizations throughout the province.
Thank you Cam for joining us at the activity to highlight the stories of some of these awesome community members and share it with the larger community through this platform!
Thank you to the fantastic local eco-friendly business LUSH 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.