Youth Activity! Invasive Species Removal & Native Tree Planting at Portage Park, View Royal, on November 29 2022
Highlights
- 32 students, and 4 teachers & parent volunteers from Craigflower Elementary School, and 4 community members, joined us and contributed 45 volunteer hours in total!
- Thank you so much for your hard work and for making this day amazing: Ms. Glenn’s Grade 4/5 class, Ms. Ingbrigtson’s’s Grade 4/5 class, all the parent volunteers, and Travis, Chenxi, Joe and Graeson!
- Thank you to Chris, View Royal’s Habitat Restoration Coordinator, for helping facilitate!
- 1 cubic metre of invasive species was removed!
- Species removed included English Ivy!
- 37 native trees & shrubs were planted!
- Native plant species planted included Douglas fir, grand fir, mock orange, Saskatoon berry, oceanspray, and June plum!
- An area of 100 metres squared had invasive plants removed from it and was revitalized thanks to the hard work of the Craigflower Elementary students!
Thank you to the Town of View Royal for partnering with us! Their support made this activity possible. Together, we are improving the health of local ecosystems and communities!
Before & After Photos
On Tuesday November 29, 2022, the Greater Victoria Green Team and the Town of View Royal partnered up to host a youth activity for Craigflower Elementary School! 40 students, teachers, parent volunteers and community member volunteers spent a fun day removing invasive English Ivy from Portage Park. They also helped plant 37 native trees and shrubs: Douglas fir, Grand fir, June plum, Saskatoon berry, Oceanspray, and mock orange. Their efforts have helped revitalize the habitat in this local park, and the students learned a lot about invasive species, identifying different plants, and the importance of environmental stewardship.
By learning about environmental issues such as those caused by invasive species in a hands-on way, communities are better equipped to tackle such problems. Additionally, participating students gained new skills and were able to experience the benefits of being out in nature including reduced levels of stress and anxiety, and improved moody, memory, focus and mental clarity. Not to mention the great physical exercise everyone got while restoring the area! By connecting people to nature, we help instil responsible environmental behaviour that extends beyond our activities.
Community in Action!
This activity was led by the Greater Victoria Green Team‘s Program Manager, Maria Varem.
Maria was hired as part of Green Teams of Canada‘s Youth Leadership Program, and is gaining hands-on experience organizing and leading communities, in addition to helping strengthen and build our organization!