Invasive Species Removal with Shoreline Community School in Portage Park, View Royal- November 7, 2023
Group photo of Ms. Lundgren’s class!
Highlights From The Day
- 35 enthusiastic students, 2 teachers, 3 education assistants, and 3 members of the community joined us and contributed about 60 volunteer hours!
- Thank you to everyone for participating: Ms. Christy’s grade 6/7 class and Ms. Lundgren’s grade 6 class,and our community member volunteers: Claire, Corrine, and Layanna (Miss Earth Canada)!
- Together our team:
- Removed a volume of 5 cubic metres (approximately 30 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!
- Students from Shoreline School have been able to partake in the restoration of this park over the years and many of them returned with with knowledge, skills, and determination to continue the invasive plant removal process!
- Our Community Investment Partner, the Town of View Royal, provided direction and funding to make this activity possible!
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 View Royal 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!
Youth In Action!
Longest Ivy Strand Competition!
The longest strand of the day was pulled by Ms. Christy’s class, measuring in at about 30 metres in length! There were some impressive contenders though! Check out the ivy measuring below!
Learning from Nature
Students made many observations, using all of their senses to explore the forest! We checked out an interesting sap formation on a tree that was healing over a scar, and counted rings on an old piece of cut wood to determine the tree’s age. We also observed nearby wildlife, seeing and hearing birds and squirrels in the park.
Our Staff
This activity was run by our Program Manager, Kaitlin Warren (far left)
Kaitlin was hired as part of the Youth Leadership Program, intended to empower the next generation of environmentally-focused community organizing!