Alison Thomas
Gabriola Land and Trails Trust
Earth Day – a worldwide event celebrated annually on April 22nd – is an opportunity for us to take action to support the natural environment. Though many threats to the health of Planet Earth are global challenges, there are things we can do to protect and support nature in our local communities.
Maintaining healthy ecosystems, where native plants support native wildlife, means keeping invasive species under control. These plants spread aggressively and can easily create monocultures, limiting natural biodiversity. We see this in many parts of the island with both daphne and Scotch broom, for example. On top of that, broom is highly flammable, so having large areas of it on the island increases the risk of wildfires. That alone should be motivation for us to tackle broom removal everywhere, starting in our own backyards!
Following up on the January launch of our new invasive plants pamphlet, GaLTT is now encouraging islanders to take part in an island-wide Earth Day Invasives Blitz. We’re asking everybody to help protect Gabriola’s biodiversity that day, by spending a little time removing invasive plants – whether tackling them on their own property, helping a neighbour on theirs, or working as a team along the side of their street. Any contribution, large or small, will help make a difference: even removing just one or two small plants here and there can eliminate the risk of them maturing and colonizing a larger area. GaLTT work parties focus on protecting parks, trails and conservation areas, so we rely on your help to deal with invasives elsewhere. Please do your part this Earth Day to help our island!
Some practical information:
Visit galtt.ca/invasives for information on identifying, removing and disposing of different invasive plants – or check your invasive plants pamphlet.
Contact invasives@galtt.ca if you have any questions or need to borrow loppers.
Take advantage of the GVFD’s yard waste drop-off event on April 26 and 27 (8:00 am to 11:45 am at the South End Firehall) to dispose of plants – OR add smaller ones (except daphne) to your RDN organics cart.
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