Sixty six bathtubs full of invasive Himalayan blackberry was pulled from a local waterway, making room for native trees and shrubs to restore salmon-spawning habitat.
On Saturday, Mar. 7, 44 community volunteers, including a group from the 2nd Alouette Girl Guides, and one from the 1st Pitt Meadows Scouts, who joined the Lower Mainland Green Team and the Alouette River Management Society, (ARMS), to rid the Trethewey Channel of 10.5 cubic metres of the invasive plant.
The group then planted 221 native trees and shrubs.
“Despite a downpour of rain, we had a great time getting our hands dirty and our boots muddy to make a difference,” said Max Muehlen, program manager with the Lower Mainland Green Team.
“All this work is to help restore this salmon-spawning channel as part of a multi-year project to support juvenile coho salmon but also other native wildlife like beavers, frogs, muskrats, crayfish, mink, bald eagles, and more,” added Muehlen.
Lower Mainland Green Team activities focus on building connections, improving well-being and empowering people to take action for the environment in their everyday lives, continued Muehlen, noting that studies have shown that participation in community-based environmental projects not only benefits the environment, but also enhances personal well-being by reducing stress and increasing life satisfaction.
Lush donated shower gel, body lotion, body conditioner, and other items for the volunteers who took part.
Funding from the Pacific Salmon Foundation went to making the event possible.
The Lower Mainland Green Team is a program of the charity Green Teams of Canada, that put on activities such as invasive plant removals, native plantings, litter cleanups, and more, to foster connections with people and nature in order to prioritize health and well-being, and promote lifelong environmental stewardship.
For more information go to: https://greenteamscanada.ca/locations/lower-mainland-green-team/; or: https://alouetteriver.org/.