The Friends of Mt. Douglas Park Society, a volunteer stewardship group working to protect the park from invasive plant invasion, welcomed Amelita Kucher and a keen group of 55 grade ten students from Mt. Douglas High School. A nature walk through the park was a nice supplement to their curricular unit on ecosystems and students were able to see first hand how invasive plants are negatively affecting the native ecosystems. Many of the kids were impressed by size of the old growth Coastal Douglas-fir trees, which at one time dominated the landscape. The youths took their turn at removing a variety of invasive plants including: yellow archangel, Scotch broom and English ivy.Thanks to the students of Mt. Douglas High School for all your hard work! Special thanks to Judy Spearing and Dick Battles from The Friends of Mt. Douglas Park Society for making this trip possible.
The public outreach continued at Campus View Elementary where three classrooms were given presentations intending to raise awareness about invasive plants in our area and their detrimental impacts. The kids, ranging from grades two to four, were full of questions and enjoyed examining the native and invasive plant samples brought to the classroom. After lunch, Bill Dancer, member of the Victoria Natural History Society, arranged a field trip to Mt. Tolmie. The trip was organized as a scavenger hunt, each student having to see, smell, or touch different species of flowers, insects, birds or grasses. The kids spotted several bird species and many native flowers including the Harvest Brodiaea seen below. It was also a perfect location to show students how invasive plants, such as Himalayan blackberry seen in the foreground of the picture below, are impacting Garry Oak ecosystems.
Thanks to the students of Campus View Elementary for being such good listeners!
