Invasive Species Removal & Native Tree Planting at View Royal Park, View Royal – February 18 2023
The Greater Victoria Green Team spent the day engaging 34 community members from all over the Greater Victoria region to remove invasive Daphne, Himalayan Blackberry, and English Ivy. Additionally, we planted Grand Fir trees and Douglas Fir Trees throughout View Royal Park!
Invasive species have been crowding and shading out the native understory and threatening the trees growing in this beautiful forest. The View Royal Parks group has been working in this park for many years and have succeeded in removing many invasive species from a large portion of this park. We joined forces to continue this important work and increase the area that is primarily inhabited by native plants. The invasive Daphne, Himalayan Blackberry, and English Ivy replace native species and decrease biodiversity, putting the health of these habitats at risk. By removing the invasive plants and planting more native trees, we are helping contribute to the protection of this park and improving its resilience.
Group Photo!
THANK YOU
Thank-you to everyone for participating: William, Marianne, Chen, Mika, Marika, Devin, Rosanna, Alison, Mieka, Caitlin, Daniel, Daniela, Crispin, Tristan, Savi, Kaden, and Noah! Thank you as well to Chris from View Royal for helping facilitate!
Thank-you very much to the Town of View Royal for partnering with us and contributing to our Green Team activities and for recognizing the importance of collaboration in community engagement and ecological restoration! It was so special to have Mayor Sid Tobias and Councillor Allison Mackenzie join us in this important restoration work! Thanks for your support!
Highlights
- In total 34 community members participated and contributed to more than 100 volunteer hours!
- We removed 12 cubic metres of invasive plants and revitalized about 500 square metres of the park!
- We removed about 5 pounds of garbage!
- 30 Douglas Fir trees were planted and 20 Grand Fir trees were planted, for a total of 50 trees planted to help restabilize the banks and provide more habitat along the edges of this park.
- 22 community members were introduced to this park location for the very first time!
- 9 people learned about and removed invasive plants for the very first time!
- This activity was the first time 20 of our attendees had ever planted trees!
Before and After Photos
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
Restoration In Action!
Thank you to the fantastic local eco-friendly business, LUSH for the donation of Tooth Paste Tabs donated In-kind for our hard-working community members to take home!
