Terra Nova Park April 24, 2021

April 25, 2021

On Saturday April 24th, 2021 the Lower Mainland Green Team and the City of Richmond joined forces to celebrate Earth Week 2021 and remove invasive Himalayan blackberry from Terra Nova Park in Richmond! Despite some on and off rain, it was a great day and the perfect temperature to get outside and restore this local park. Community members of all ages and experience levels came together to learn about the increasing threat of invasive species with climate change, how to identify Himalayan blackberry and remove it. Teamwork was used to dig up stubborn crowns and it was empowering to see the huge difference that a seemingly small group of people could make! The work of these community members built on the efforts of those who joined us last week on April 17, 2021 and those who came out to our first activity at this park in November 2020. Environmental stewardship is a collaborative effort and it is important to return to sites to ensure a long lasting impact. Following the current COVID-19 restrictions, this activity had three sessions engaging up to 9 people in each session and implemented the safety measures outlined in our COVID-19 Safety Plan.

Thank You!

Thank you to all of the hard-working and enthusiastic community members we had out: Suzie, Harkaran, Shane, Francis, Apple, Liz, Dan yang, RuiRui (Lillian), Rachel, Deng, Kaleb, Taylor, Aqeel, Gary, Jun, Ethan Lennart, Stephanie, Tia, Rana, Mimi, Vicky, Nicole, Ye-fee and Talia!

A huge thank you to Magnus Sinclair from the City of Richmond for being our partner and making this opportunity possible! We are excited to be a part of the City of Richmond’s Earth Week 2021 celebration and look forward to running future activities with you!

Photos from the first session can be found HERE, second session HERE, and third session HERE!

First Session Group Photo

Second Session Group Photo

Third Session Group Photo

Highlights

In total 24 LMGT volunteers participated and contributed 34 hours total
2.5 cubic metres of Himalayan blackberry was removed, including dozens of stubborn root crowns!
14 volunteers visited Terra Nova Park for the first time
21 volunteers removed invasive Himalayan blackberry for the first time
We found lots of worms, slugs, beetles and other helpful soil organisms, and Suzie almost took home a pet slug on her backpack!
We were visited by two Anna’s hummingbirds and got to hear their bird call!
Volunteers took home a gift from one of our in-kind sponsors who kindly donated their products to our community including: EarthRated dog poop bags, tea lights and matches from Honey Candles, soap from Eartheasy, and West Coast Seeds
We were featured in the Richmond News! Click HERE to read the article.