The Greater Victoria Green Team organized a youth-focused education and environmental activity with students and teachers from Royal Bay Secondary as well as community members. Together, we removed 20 cubic metres of invasive Himalayan Blackberry and Scotch Broom from Murray Pond Park in Colwood!
THANK YOU
Thank-you to everyone for participating: teachers and students from Royal Bay Secondary as well as Judy and Deanna, two amazing volunteers
Thank-you very much to the City of Colwood or funding this activity and making it possible for us to engage community, including youth, in the care of your parks!
PHOTO ALBUM FROM THE EVENT IS FOUND HERE AND HERE (FROM AFTERNOON SESSION)
Highlights
- In total, 143 volunteers participated (141 students and teachers from Royal Bay), and contributed 176 volunteer hours
- We removed 20 cubic metres of invasive blackberry and Scotch Broom from an area measuring approximately 300 square metres
- We introduced 55% of the volunteers to removing Himalayan Blackberry (78 volunteers)
- We planted 20 native Nootka Rose donated by Judy!
What some of the teachers / community shared
I think it provides a good introduction to students to participate in a service project. Hopefully, when the opportunity presents itself in the future, these students will be more likely to volunteer with this or another group. It also provides some real life relevance when we are talking about invasive plants and plant biology. I would also hope that there would be some concept of stewardship of that parcel that they worked on, noticing the natural changes that occur and perhaps they will be more likely to speak up or take action if they see someone disrespecting the land and plants there.
It was wonderful to have our students involved in a community project. Many of the neighbors contacted the school to express their gratitude. I hope to have my students involved in these types of projects in the future.
In the neighborhood that our school is located, there is a great deal of new development. It is important to embrace the importance of environmental stewardship.
We just wanted to acknowledge the hard work of a group of your students this morning. We live above the school and watched the effort being put in to remove a large patch of blackberry bushes from the parkland above the school. Thanks to all of them for their community service! The parkland certainly needs a lot of work and their efforts are an excellent start.
Before and After photos
Volunteers in Action
