Township of Langley (Eric) for partnering with our charity and making this activity possible
Hard working students of Peter Ewart Middle School
Highlights
31 volunteers contributed 62 hours
Removed 1.5 cubic metres of invasive Himalayan and Evergreen Blackberry
Locals mentioned how happy they were to see the park being stewarded
Peter Ewart Middle students competed to see who got the biggest root crown dug up and it was close! Steel water bottles were the price
What the teacher said about their experience
“Our class had a great day working hard and learning about invasive plants at Routley Park! They were thrilled to look back on their progress and see the significant difference they made in the park. Many students were surprised by how much they enjoyed working hard on this task and learning to use new tools. I would gladly take another class on this trip! Thanks so much”
36 of the volunteers visited Ruth Johnson Park for the very first time
38 of the volunteers planted trees for the first time
31 of the volunteers removed invasive plants for the first time
300 trees were planted ( Grand Fir, Western Hemlock, Lodgepole Pine, Native Cedar, Douglas Fir, Pacific yew, Spruce and Gary Oak). As they grow over the next decades they will spark growth of other native trees and become a forest for the next generation!
Volunteers named some of the trees. Some of the names: picachu, Sam, Nicole-Isabel, Destiny and Steve
Semiahmoo Secondary Special Ed program and Grade 10 Science class participated
0.25 cubic metres of invasive blackberry was removed (mostly root crowns!)
Lesley did an amazing job running our instagram account
Doug, Brian S, Brian G., Tatjana helped lead the activity !
White Rock Montessori children came to check out the Semiahmoo Secondary School students planting trees. Future generation of environmental stewards!
What volunteers said
Planting 300 trees is no easy task! It should have a big impact on the local environment.– Brian
Amazing Green Team volunteers for coming out in the downpour of rain: Melanie, Adele, Tax King, Eric, Brian, Pat, Bert, Pamela, Suzie, Mila, Leonardo, Ryabn, Jennifer, Holden, Alan and Kathleen
City of Burnaby(Mark S.) and World Rivers Day (Mark Angelo) for partnering with our charity to make this community activity possible!
Highlights:
16 volunteers contributed 43 hours. Great turn out, especially considering the amount of rain
2 cubic meters of invasive plants were removed (largely Blackberry root crowns!)
3 volunteers had never been to Deer Lake Park before
6 volunteers had never removed invasive Blackberry or Ivy before
Adele helped sign volunteers in
Melanie was our social media volunteer for this event
Hard working Green Team volunteers for coming out, despite the weather forecast saying good chance of rain:Doug, Melanie, Rob, Adele, Katarina, Mathieu, Brian, Joshua, Tatjana, Kie, Paul, Jarick, Suzie, Gary, Jason, Allison and her daughter
City of Burnaby (Melinda) for partnering with our charity to make this community activity possible!
Highlights:
17 volunteers contributed 48 hours
3.5 cubic meters of Policeman’s Helmet were removed
2 volunteers had never been to Deer Lake Park before
6 volunteers had never removed invasive Policeman’s Helmet before
We came across a really cool looking (and strong) caterpillar
We had 8 different locals walking by thank volunteers for their work
Gets me involved in the community. Makes me more aware of the sensitive nature of our environment and becoming better stewards of our parks and natural resources. – Suzie
I feel the impact of the Lower Mainland Green Team is their ability to get people out into the environment – Diana
Township of Langley (Eric) for partnering with our charity to make this community activity possible!
Amazing Green Team volunteers:Cheng, Kate, Doug, Zamezi, Diana, Francis, Ryan, Lindy, Grace, Kimberley, Julie, Jensen, Cassie, Elliott, Bailee, Evalit, Grant, Jack, Sam, a mom and two children
Highlights:
24 volunteers contributed 47 hours
5 cubic meters of invasive plants (morning glory, himalayan blackberry, evergreen blackberry, sumac) were removed
18 volunteers had never been to Routley Park before
8 volunteers had never removed invasive plants before
We had a contest for the biggest himalayan blackberry root dug up. Francis won and got a custom Green Team bandana!
We were joined by beautiful baby Kameria (she is named after the term “blue moon”)
One of the volunteers had a dog called Pippin (Lord of the Rings!)
Two girl guide leaders had cool guider names : Rabbit brush and Tiger Lily
A local came by with his two children and told us we “nailed it”
Volunteers received West Coast vegetable seeds
What a Green Team volunteer said:
Always good to make a dent in the invasive species. Community involvement and making the kids work is also good – Jack
On July 20, 2019, the Lower Mainland Green Team pulled the invasive Policeman’s Helmet from Deer Lake Park in Burnaby.
This community engagement activity was made possible through partnership with City of Burnaby. Working together is a win for community and biodiversity!
A special thank you to our very own Greater Victoria Green Team Program Manager for co-running this activity. A thank you also goes out to our leaders: Brian, Doug and Victor.
Thank you to all the community members who did such great work removing large swaths of invasive Policeman’s Helmet: Anwarali, Adam, Akber, Al, Alam, Alan, Alvina, Anisha, Anne, Belva, Brian G., Brian J., Dana, Dianne, Doug, Elysha, Froilan Jr, Heather, Homer, Jabeen, Jan, Jeremy, Jun Woo, Karl redrick, Kat, Katarina, Keith, Kim, Layla, Mae, Marvin, Melanie, Michael, Nasira, Romeo, Sadia, Samantha, Sameena, Samuel, Sarah B, Sarah F., Shaheen, Shazeen, Susana, Tatjana, Tiffany, Victor, Yasmin, Max and Olivia
HIGHLIGHTS
50 community members contributed 140 hours
6 cubic metres of invasive Policeman’s Helmet was removed (some over 6 feet tall!)
28 volunteers had never been to Deer Lake Park before
30 volunteers had never removed invasive Policeman’s Helmet before
3 people rode their bicycles, 1 took transit, 4 walked and there were 3 carpool drivers
Well organized event on a bright, sunny day. Event was well attended and volunteers were enthusiastic and willing to work. A good opportunity to meet many people of different backgrounds. Great cookies! I believe the main impact is exposing an expanding number of people to the experience of helping with the management of local parks. This helps to develop a sense of community ownership of our parks. It also helps significantly in spreading knowledge of the impact of invasives on local environments. – Victor
Huge turnout and awesome spirit from all. Great event as usual. The kids loved volunteering, which is fantastic. They want to do it again. – Tiffany
I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment – Alvina
The impact of participating was to increase environmental awareness to the public. Also to preserve the natural ecosystems – Jun
On July 7, 2019, Lower Mainland Green Team volunteers rescued the riparian area of Nelson Creek from Himalayan Blackberry! It was extremely hard work digging out the roots – it takes a lot of patience and persistence. Everyone did a fantastic job – it was especially inspiring to see parents and kids working together and rocking it!
This activity was made possible by the City of Coquitlam (Elise, Brad and Caresse). Check out and join their Bad Seed Program. Thank you!
Special thanks to Suzie and Doug, our superstar LMGT volunteer leaders. Thank you for staying to help packing up all the equipment at the end!
Thank you to all the volunteers for their efforts: James, Tatjana, Katarina, Serena, Gail, Yiyue, Danielle, Alicia, Kathy, Betty, Barbara, Tiernan, William, Santana, Benjamin, Brian, Art, Benjamin, Heather, James, Betty, Roham, Wei, Turiga, and Letitzia. You made a difference!
Highlights:
25 volunteers participated and contributed 73 hours
We removed a big pile of Himalayan Blackberry crowns, about 11 cubic metres and a few large Himalayan Balsam (Policeman’s Helmet) plants
We removed about 40 pounds of garbage – including a lighter and a bunch of old rusted metal
We enjoyed the cool day and a little bit of rain to keep us refreshed
Parent-child teams worked hard together to make a difference
The Lower Mainland Green Team organized an invasive plant removal in partnership with the City of Burnaby and the Byrne Creek Stream Keepers Society. We had 39 volunteers participate and managed to remove a big patch of English Ivy Himalayan Blackberry, plus patches of invasive periwinkle and small-flowered-touch-me-not (Impatiens parviflora, which is in the same family as Policeman’s Helmet) ! It was a great end to Environment Week!
Our amazing volunteers, partners and collaborators!
Thank you to our in-kind sponsors for providing thank-you gifts to our volunteers: West Coast Seeds for providing seeds! Also, thank you City of Burnaby for donating Recycled tote bags and sandwich bags!
Thank you very much City of Burnaby and Byrne Creek Stream Keepers Society for partnering with the Lower Mainland Green Team. You have truly recognized the value of collaboration and partnership!
On May 10, 2019,Lower Mainland Green Teamvolunteers removed Himalayan Blackberry roots and garbage from the banks of Nelson Creek in Coquitlam. Removing Himalayan Blackberry roots is a big challenge – it took a lot of hard work and persistence to dig the big ones out.
Special thanks toDoug andBrian – our superstar LMGT volunteers. They removed a lot of garbage before the event, and cleaned the shovels and packed up all the equipment at the end. Amazing!
Thank you to all the volunteers for their efforts:Blessing, Brian, Ceana, Christine, Conrad, Dana, Daniel, Doug, Emma, Emmalee, Evan, Gael, Georgia, Giorgia, Hope, Jacob, Jasmine, Jillian, Julez, Lewis, Lily, Maddy, Matthew, Myrrhanda, Natasha, Nate, Owen, Rhyan, Sam, Shailyn, Shelton, Tanthai, Teresa, Vienna, Yasmine. You made a difference!
Highlights:
35 volunteers participated and contributed 72 hours
We removed about 3 cubic metres of Himalayan Blackberry roots. This is a lot of roots! We had a contest to see who could remove the biggest root system. Dana won!
We removed 1 garbage bag full of garbage, about 20 pounds. This included a $5 bill (may have ended up in a pocket, not the garbage bag), a hair brush, a knife, a fake apple, and a license plate with a renewal sticker for 1989.
Most of the volunteers were from École Maillard Middle School – and they walked to the event from school (about 2 kilometers each way!)
Brian cycled to the event from north Burnaby!
We broke in some brand new gloves donated byWatson Gloves
Lower Mainland Green Team volunteers came out in the sun, cloud, rain, hail and wind and planted native species, and removed invasive English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry and trash from Rocky Point Park in Port Moody!
Thank-you to everyone who participated: Akinori, Alexander, Anna, Andrew, Angela, Anezcka, Art, Leonid, Valentyna, Oleh, Ganna, Brian J, Britney, Cindy, Emma, Eugene, Florence, Francis, Glenda, Gwynifyre, Jordan, Karissa, Kristina, YuQing, Hunter, Kate, Monica, Susanna and Cllr Megan Lahti
Thank you very much to the City of Port Moody for partnering with the Green Teams. Specifically, thank you to Angela and for recognizing the importance of collaboration and partnership! Your support made it all possible.
Thank you to our in-kind sponsors for providing thank-you gifts to our volunteers: West Coast Seeds for providing veggie and flower seeds!
28 volunteers participated and contributed 80 volunteer hours
10 volunteers had never been to Rocky Point Park
14 of the volunteers had never planted before
11 of the volunteers had never removed invasive plants before
We planted 20 native trees
We removed 30 cubic metres of English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberry
Most volunteers came from Port Moody; however, some volunteers also came from Coquitlam, Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Langley and Anmore!
What participants said about their experience
This program not only educates people on invasive species and environmental issues but brings people who truly care to make a difference together. This program is a way of making people feel like they are able to facilitate change or learn how to. – Maya
The impact is increased awareness of the magnitude of effort required for greenspace maintenance by participants, & signal to those in positions to support, that ‘everyday folks’ care enough to make an effort – Kate
it was a lot of fun and I got to meet some great people. It might make more people aware of what they can do to help the planet! – Emma
Gives me an opportunity to help out the community and become more educated on invasive species and more! – Karissa
The impact is a more natural park. And, helping native plants flourish. – Florence
