This team is all about keeping people connected to nature.
The Greater Victoria Green Team has nurtured a passion for connecting people, especially youth, to nature in ways that create a strong sense of community. Program objectives include restoring habitat and increasing biodiversity, providing outdoor career experience, educating and raising awareness about environmental issues and instilling experience working as a team.
Volunteers take part in a wide range of activities, such as identifying and removing invasive plants, planting native species, preparing vegetable beds and harvesting vegetables.
“We’re always looking for volunteers,” said Emily Boyes, program manager of the Greater Victoria Green Team. “We are taking extra precautions due to COVID-19 to ensure our volunteers are safe.”
That includes a range of comprehensive safety measures based on a policy drafted by the GVGT board that includes limiting the number of participants in volunteer programs, she explained.
There are still spaces available for an event at Stoneridge Wetland in View Royal on Sunday, Sept. 13 that involves planting an assortment of native wetland plants, as well as removing invasive parrot feather. The event happens rain or shine.
There is room for two more volunteers in the first session, which runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:14 p.m., and many spaces remain in the later session, from 12:45 to 2:30 p.m.
The team has between 15 and 20 projects already planned for the next three months, so there are plenty of opportunities to get involved as a volunteer, make new friends and have fun while enjoying the benefits of being outdoors, Boyes said.
For a detailed look at upcoming events visit meetup.com/Greater-Victoria-Green-Team/events and to register, click on Join this group. There’s also more information on safety protocols and what volunteers need to bring, as well as directions to the site.
The GVGT, one of the largest volunteer environmental groups in the province, was founded in 2014 and is part of the Green Teams of Canada charity.
rick.stiebel@goldstreamgazette.com
Do you have a story tip? Email: vnc.editorial@blackpress.ca. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
