Removing Invasive Himalayan Blackberry in Colwood Creek Park, Colwood – December 2, 2023
Group photo of the amazing community members who joined us for this activity!
The Greater Victoria Green Team spent the day engaging 46 community members from all over the Greater Victoria region to remove invasive Himalayan blackberry from the riparian zone in Colwood Creek Park! Ecological restoration is a team effort that provides many wonderful opportunities for community engagement. It was a great day with a ton of teamwork, smiles, and new friendships made.
Removed about 20 cubic metres of invasive Himalayan blackberry!
Revitalized about 121 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!
28 people visited Colwood Creek Park for the first time!
11 people removed invasive plants for the first time!
Our Community Investment Partner, theCity of Colwood, provided direction and funding to make this activity possible!
This was our third time working in this park this year (see our previous activities back in July HERE and November HERE). By working in this park, we have uncovered a creek behind the huge invasive Himalayan blackberry patch and we have kept tackling this area to expose more and more sections of the creek.
Before & After Photos
This is what the site looked like before we started working in the park back in July….and this is what it looks like now!
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, participants:
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
A big thank you to the City of Colwood 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!
We are so excited to be returning to this park again on December 2 to continue this important work & remove event more invasive Himalayan Blackberry! RSVP and find more details on our Meetup page HERE!
Thank you so much City of Colwood Councillor David Grove (far left) for joining us for this activity! We really appreciate your support!
New Equipment Donated by a Community Member!
A huge THANK YOU to our dedicated community member, Rob for donating funds to be used to purchase our very own wagon to transport equipment and tools!
Our new wagon (named Pioneer) was used for the first time at our activity today! We’re so excited to continue using it at our upcoming activities in 2024!
Rob pictured to the left, along with our brand new wagon, pioneer, featuring our mascot Cami inside!
Our Staff
This activity was run by our Program Coordinator, Severine Tyszewicz (left) and our Program Manager, Kaitlin Warren (right)!
Severine was hired as part of the Youth Leadership Program, intended to empower the next generation of environmentally-focused community organizing!
