Thank you so much Greater Victoria Green Team participants for your hard work and enthusiasm:
Chloe, Cody, Deniz, Ellie, Ghazal, Grey, Karen, Kim, Layanna, Lincoln, Mila, Muen, Paul, Shawn, Taremwa, Yangyi, Yussuf!
What a fun day we had connecting people to one another and nature, all while restoring habitat! Keep on reading to find impacts, highlights and more from the day…
Impacts
- 20 community members engaged
- 65 hours contributed to habitat restoration
- 3 people removed invasive plants for the first time
- 7 people visited this park for the first time
- 170 native shrubs and trees were planted including varieties of Oregon grape, Red osier dogwood, flowering red currant, salmonberry, red alder, and salmonberry
- 2.5 cubic metres of invasive Himalayan blackberry removed
- 230 square metres of habitat revitalized
Highlights
- What a great way to kick off Earth Day! Thank you so much for everyone who joined us for this hands-on outdoor educational opportunity!
- The weather throughout the day sure kept us entertained! It rained, it hailed, the sun shined, and repeat! This was no match for our dedicated community members who took it all with stride!
- This was such an exciting activity for us as we have been working on restoring this area in the park since last July (see our first blog when we first started HERE)
- This activity was highlighted in Victoria News!
- Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the refreshments, fresh fruits and veggies, as well as brownies which are consistently a hit!
- Community members Shawn and Mila helped us with takedown and packing up: thank you for your help!
- Community members enjoyed the additional education provided by our new plant signs, learning about identification in a fun, creative way!
- A huge shoutout to community member Paul for bringing his furry friends Penny and Basil! What better way to enjoy working in an off-leash dog park!
- People joined this activity from all over, including people who live in the new development and others who travelled across the region to have fun connecting with each other.
- All ages, backgrounds, and experience levels were engaged including families, returning Green Team members, and first-timers
Community Investment Partner
THANK YOU to the City of Colwood for partnering with our charity, Green Teams of Canada, and making this activity possible with their financial support and direction!
Together we are achieving our common goals and creating connected, healthy, and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.
In-Kind Support
Thank you to the fantastic local eco-friendly business Green Beaver that donated In-kind products for our hard-working community members to take home!
Please contact Kaitlin Warren. if you are interested in providing in-kind.
Why 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!
We all experience mental and physical health benefits from spending time in nature, including reduced stress and anxiety, and improved mood, focus, memory and more. While doing so, we can also have a positive impact on the environment as demonstrated through this activity!
Staff Who Made This Activity Possible
Greater Victoria Green Team Program Manager, Kaitlin Warren and Program Coordinator, Severine Tyszewicz, work hard behind the scenes to bring these high-quality activities to you.
Partnership building, outreach, social media, activity logistics, leading on-the-ground, reporting on impacts and more – they can do it all!
Severine was hired as part of Green Teams of Canada’s Youth Leadership Program, intended to empower the next generation of environmentally-focused community organizing.