Youth Activity! Invasive Species Removal at Portage Park, View Royal – October 25 2022
The Greater Victoria Green Team spent the day engaging community members and about 180 youth from View Royal Elementary School, Shoreline Middle School, and Pearson College to remove invasive English Ivy from Portage Park!
This invasive species has been crowding and shading out the native understory and threatens the trees growing in this beautiful forest. English Ivy can grow up to 9 feet in a year, and can grow up to 40 ft vertically on a tree or building! The plant spreads by propagation, so if a stem fragment finds soil, a new section of ivy can grow. Seeds are also spread by seeds by birds! English Ivy replaces native species and decrease biodiversity, putting the health of these habitats at risk.
THANK YOU
Thank-you to everyone for participating: Ms. Christy’s class, Mr. Wellby’s class, Ms. Cockwill’s class, Mme. Sanborn’s class, Ms. Lelonde’s class, Ms. Stevens’ class, Mr. Seaberg’s class, Mr. Stevens’ class, both groups of Pearson College students, all of the awesome parent volunteers, and Taryn! Thank you as well to Chris from View Royal for helping facilitate!
Thank-you very much to the Town of View Royal for partnering with us and contributing to our Green Team activities and for recognizing the importance of collaboration in community engagement and ecological restoration!
Highlights
- In total 180 youth, community members, and teachers participated and contributed to 191 volunteer hours!
- We removed 6 cubic metres of invasive plants and revitalized about 200 square metres of the park!
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