Group photo of UVic’s Biogeography Class (GEOG 274)
Group photo of the Grade 2/3 class from Oaklands Elementary School!
Group photo of the Grade 5 class from Oaklands Elementary School!
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
- 94 enthusiastic students, 5 teachers, and 1 senior lab instructor engaged
- 112.5 hours contributed to habitat restoration
- 12.5 cubic metres (78 bathtubs full) of invasive English ivy removed
- 350 square metres of habitat revitalized
- Countless smiles, laughter, cheers of accomplishment, and stories were shared!
Highlights
- Students from Oaklands Elementary School thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this ecological restoration activity and used their with knowledge, skills, and determination to remove invasive species!
- We had a little friendly competition with longest ivy strand for the Oaklands students, with the longest measuring at about 6.8 metres! It was a day filled with great teamwork!
- Students from the UVic biogeography class had a great time taking action by applying their class knowledge of biotic and abiotic factors into this hands-on, experiential activity to restore the land!
- Students and passerbys enjoyed the additional education and decorative designs provided by the plant signs, learning about identification in a fun, creative way!
- This was our first time working in the Cedar Hill Corner site at UVic and are excited to return to build off of this momentum and continue removing invasive species in this area!
Community Investment Partner
A huge THANK YOU to the Department of Campus Planning and Sustainability at the University of Victoria 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.
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.