Thank you to Ms. Rathburn and her grade 6 students for participating in this activity! Johnny, Gwyn, Duke, Aubree, Perras, Luc, Mila, Wesley, Mason, Sloane, Brielle, Isaiah, James, Thomas, Jack, Zachary, Kaden, Sarah-Olivia, Fiona, Sophia, Menelaos, & Everley!
Thank you to Ms. Griffiths her grade 6 students for participating in this activity! Joshua, Jane, Gabriel, Jackson, Eliana, Marissa, Amani, Oliver, Bennett, Ceana, Rocklind, Olivia, Ellie, Linnaia, Chase, Hadassah, Samuel, Pedro, Mateo, Josephine, Olivia, & Ryan!
What a fun day we had connecting youth to one another and nature, all while restoring habitat! Keep on reading to find impacts, highlights and more from the day…
Impacts
- 39 students, 2 teachers, 1 teaching assistant, and 1 parent (and their family dog) joined us to remove invasive plants and help improve the health of this beautiful forest
- All the students were introduced to Dickson Woods forest for the first time through this activity
- 34 students removed invasive English ivy for the first time at this activity
- 107 hours contributed to habitat restoration
- 3 cubic metres (approximately 19 bathtubs!) of invasive English ivy was removed
- 25 trees were saved from invasive English ivy
- Countless smiles, laughter, and cheers of accomplishment were shared
Highlights
- Students from Pacific Christian School travelled from their school to take part in this ecological restoration activity and used their knowledge, skills, and determination to remove invasive species!
- It was a beautiful autumn day filled with great teamwork and lots of excitement while exploring nature!
- Students enjoyed working together in teams to carry large tarp loads of ivy vines
- All of the students explored the Dickson Woods forest for the very first time through this activity
- Many trees were saved and native shrubs such as snowberry and Nootka rose were revealed by the removal of the invasive English ivy
- Parents and a family dog joined the activity to support the students
- During the snack break students enjoyed granola bars, sugar donuts, tomatoes, ginger snap cookies, carrots, & fruit snacks
- Thank you to all of the students for their help carrying tools and packing up at the end of the activity
- Thank you to the teachers and the bus driver for helping to make this activity the smooth success that it was
- It was great to build upon the work our our previous invasive ivy removal activity at this location on Oct 19 2025
- We will be back at Dickson Woods 3 more times this year to continue the great restoration work together in partnership with the Victoria Airport Authority!
- Check out these community activities open to all ages:
- Saturday Nov. 29
- Saturday Dec. 6
- Saturday Dec. 13
What Students Said
Video of Linnaia and Jane talking about helping native plants and how much fun it is to spend time in nature with friends
Video of Ceana, Everly, and Sarah talking about learning about how it is good to help the environment and save trees and how much fun they had spending time with friends
Video of Sophia and Marissa talking about saving the environment, helping the earth, and having fun with friends
Video of Gwyn and Brielle talking about their connections with nature and why removing invasive plants matters
Video of students sharing their review of the activity
Community Investment Partner
THANK YOU to the Victoria Airport Authority for providing funding, direction, and ecological expertise to guide this activity!
Together we are achieving our common goals and creating connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.
This was the second of five activities that are being run in partnership between Greater Victoria Green Team and Victoria Airport Authority in 2025. We are grateful for the opportunities that these activities provide to the community throughout the community.
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
Our dedicated team is passionate about creating engaging, high-quality activities that foster a sense of belonging, connection to nature while raising environmental awareness. We strive to make a positive impact on our environment and to build a thriving community that cares for it.
This activity was run by Green Teams of Canada’s Founder and Executive Director, Lyda.
Partnerships Manager, Kaitlin Warren, supported this activity behind the scenes.