The Greater Victoria Green Team spent the day engaging 32 community members at Peter Grant Park in Sidney to remove invasive species and plant trees, for the Town of Sidney’s 3rd annual Tree Appreciation Day!

Douglas-fir trees are an important species in forests across Greater Victoria. They have been struggling to reproduce successfully due to all the invasive species taking over our forests. Douglas-fir and other conifer trees need a lot of light as seedlings, so during the activity today we planted Douglas-fir around the perimeter of the forest, where they can get plenty of light. We also planted Alder and Maple in the forest. Species like English Ivy or Daphne that crowd the forest floor can make it impossible for new trees to grow, so we also we spent time removing invasive species—primarily English Ivy—in order to create open space for Alder and Maple seedlings to establish.

Over many decades, this new generation of trees will grow and create healthy habitat for other organisms living in the park. In a couple hundred years, as the older trees die, the trees we planted today will take over as the primary trees in the forest!

THANK YOU

Thank-you to everyone for participating: Lynda, Sara, Scott, Ana, Carlla, Eric, Judie, Cliff, Pat, Ray, Barbara, Andre, Jason, Kaitlin, Julie, Annie, Pieta, Adam, Thadd, Terri, Chloe, Abigail, Noah, Ramisa, Nisa, Lucina, Janet, Alonso, Jason, Dennis, and Adria!

Thank-you very much to the Town of Sidney for partnering with us and contributing to our Green Team activities, and for recognizing the importance of collaboration in community engagement and ecological restoration! And an extra thank you to Sidney Parks staff for helping facilitate: Mike, Clay, Clay, Jenn, and Kira!

Group Photo!

Highlights

• In total 32 community members participated and contributed to 88 volunteer hours!
• 12 volunteers were introduced to Peter Grant Park, while 14 volunteers had never planted trees before!
• We planted 78 trees today, and also removed 7.7 cubic metres of invasive plants!
• Town of Sidney provided tree seedlings for community members to plant at home!!

Before and After Photos

This activity not only benefitted the environment, but also the participants themselves. 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

Volunteer Testimonials

“I enjoyed planting trees that will live far beyond my lifespan, and improving the forest for indigenous plants by removing invasives. I really liked how everyone worked together and how helpful and kind everyone was.” – Pat

“I enjoyed coming to a new park that I haven’t been to before.” – Barbara

Action Shots

Thank you to Lush, TruEarth, & Green Beaver for donating in-kind gifts for our hard-working volunteers to take home!