Rec

reat

ion,

Par

ks &

Cul

ture

www.reddeer.ca

09.02

Contact us today.

For more information on adopting a park, please contact:

Recreation, Parks & Culture

Phone: 403.342.8234Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday

Red Deer’s Waskasoo Park system is the envy of many cities. Our parks are made up of both natural and manicured green spaces – they’re havens for peaceful retreats, exercise, bird watching, and community gatherings.

You can help protect the parks and the wildlife that inhabit them. And your commitment can be as simple or as involved as you choose.

With Adopt a Park, you can work as an individual, group or business to protect the green spaces that make living in Red Deer so unique.

By preserving the beauty of our parks, you’re also protecting the environment and making the parks safer places for the entire community to enjoy.

Adopt a Park

keep them healthy attractive safe&

Is there a green space in Red Deer that’s special to you?

Why not adopt it?

Ado

pt a

Par

kLove your parks

Protect them from misuse and the damage it causes.

Invasive alien weed management

As Red Deer grows, so does the likelihood of harmful alien weed species spreading and establishing themselves in sensitive natural areas. These alien weed invaders have no natural predators; they can outcompete and replace native vegetation, wiping out valuable wildlife habitat and off-setting the balance of nature.

You can actively minimize the negative impact invasive plants have on Red Deer’s green spaces and the wildlife that life within them:• Takepartingroupsurveillanceand management campaigns in natural areas • Individuallymonitorforharmfulweedsin

your own neighborhood park and report the presence of harmful weeds to Parks staff.

Litter control

Litter is not only unsightly, it also causes a range of environmental problems:• Muchofthelitterweseeinourparksis

not biodegradable.• Litterpollutesourcreeksandrivers, negatively affecting the plants and animals

that rely on the water. • Litterattractsverminandcanbecomea

breeding ground for bacteria.• Animalsaredirectlyaffectedbylitter–

plastics and pollutants can harm or destroy birds, small mammals and amphibians.

• Accumulatedlittercanbeafirehazard.

Protecting the safety of our parks

Litter and weed growth can compromise the safety of our parks, because areas that look neglected invite misuse. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles promote maintaining clean parks and encouraging communities to use, enjoy, and watch over their parks. This has been proven to help reduce and prevent inappropriate and criminal behavior.

Adopt-a-Park:atwo-waybenefit

Adopt-a-Park offers a variety of opportunities to contribute to the health and safety of our parks and communities in a personal and meaningful way. At the same time, your valuable contribution makes it possible for Parks staff to concentrate on otherpriorities.Thebenefitsarewidespread!

What would I have to do?

Adopting a park is commitment, but the amount of time you put in can vary. Here are some examples of what adopting a park or trail can mean:• Pickinguplitteralongcreeks,

trails, manicured parks or natural areas.

• Monitoringandmanagingforalien weed invaders.

• Keepinganeyeopenfornaturaldamage or dangers, vandalism, inappropriate use, and

reporting such activity to Parks staff or the RCMP as appropriate.