METRO VANCOUVER REGIONAL PARKS NATURAL RESOURCE

Stewardship NEWSMetro Vancouver Regional Parks are great places to spend time and connect with nature. Whether home to forests,

rivers, fields or beaches, parks help make our communities more livable – providing places to get outdoors as well as

important ecosystem services. Every year, thousands of hours are invested by staff, partners and volunteers to restore the

health and beauty of our parks. Here are some highlights of recent – and upcoming – stewardship projects and efforts.

2014 Stewardship Events (as of June 30)Number of events: 43Volunteer participants: 751Volunteer hours: 1,727More than 2,000 native plants in the ground and over 11.5 tons of invasive plants removed.

Meetup We’re using Meetup.com to let people know about stewardship events and invite them to be volunteers. Our Meetup group is called the “Metro Vancouver Regional Parks Ecological Restoration Team”. You can check out the page to find out about all our stewardship events. Interested in helping? Join our group and help spread the word! www.meetup.com/Regional-Parks-Connect-Metro-Vancouver

FALL • 2014

On Saturday, October 25th, Metro Vancouver will host the first annual Ecoblitz – a day devoted to environmental stewardship in regional parks. It’s a great way for park volunteers to participate in hands-on ecological projects in the region. From tree and shrub plantings to weedbusting, there will be 10 work parties that occur simultaneously in various parks that day. Come out and join us. It will be a wonderful opportunity to spend time outdoors, make friends and help the environment. More importantly, it will be lots of fun!

For more details on the Ecoblitz work parties, please see the last page or go to Meetup.com and search “Metro Vancouver Regional Parks Ecological Restoration Team”.

We look forward to seeing you!

join us for the first ever ecoblitz!

Join other park lovers to help keep parks healthy.

MV Regional Parks Stewardship News | Fall 2014

As the water level inched towards the 5.5 metre mark at the Mission Bridge gauge, we took a deep collective breath. It was late May and the spring freshet on the Fraser River was in full swing. We paid close attention to the river levels this year because just two months previous, we had planted 500 willow whips 25 kilometres downstream at Brae Island Regional Park. The planting was part of a bioengineering project carried out by staff and volunteers from the Derby Reach Brae Island Park Association, Langley Environmental Partners Society and Metro Vancouver. The willow would help stabilize the river bank against erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat along Bedford Channel.

The willow whips were harvested on a cold, rainy winter day and planted before the break of spring. It was important to get the plants in the ground early in the season while they were still dormant. Given all the hard work, it would have been a shame to see all that effort go to waste – washed away at the whim of the mighty Fraser.

But as luck would have it, the river peaked on May 29 at 5.586 meters and began to recede in June. By summer, we were in the clear. When we returned to assess the site, we were elated to find that not only had most of the whips survived, but they were absolutely thriving in the wet soil. With a big sigh of relief, we were able to relax a little before wondering – are we really in the clear? What challenges will summer bring?

Sometimes, it is tempting to view a planting as the start and end of an ecological restoration project. Often, it’s not that simple and follow-up work is required. Whether it is weeding and mulching in the spring, watering during a long summer dry spell or supplementary plantings the following fall, they are all essential for ensuring long-term success. All projects are unique; each presents different challenges and learning opportunities, forcing us to be adaptable and resourceful. It challenges us to improve our procedures and techniques to produce ever better results in the future.

Willow whips survive a potentially watery end

Japanese knotweed is an invasive plant that is notoriously difficult to eradicate. It grows in dense thickets and outcompetes native plants thus reducing biodiversity. Manual removal is difficult, and efforts to remove knotweed can contribute to its spread. The roots can grow metres deep and even the tiniest fragment can regenerate into a new plant. This weed flourishes throughout Metro Vancouver and unfortunately, occurs in many regional parks. The good news is that regional park staff have been battling Japanese knotweed the last few years and are beginning to gain the upper hand.

Since 2011, Metro Vancouver has used a targeted contol method that involves injecting knotweed stems with the herbicide glyphosate. This kills the knotweed, but leaves the surrounding vegetation unharmed. The results can be dramatic with more than 90 percent of knotweed killed with the first treatment. Still, it can take several years to fully eradicate it. At some locations, traces of the plant can still be found after three years of treatments.

This knotweed patch was injected with herbicide two days earlier.

Parks efforts reduce the impact of knotweed on native species

Volunteers plant willow to help stabilize a riverbank.

It’s always a pleasure, to hear from groups we’ve worked with on ecosystem restoration projects in parks. David, a high school teacher, was kind enough to share his experience at Tynehead Regional Park.

In the early spring, (Stewardship Technician) Cam Bennett contacted me; he proposed we help build a split rail fence along a park trail to keep people and dogs from wandering into a salmon-bearing stream, negatively impacting the ecology. Native trees and shrubs would be planted in the newly protected area.

Cam was extremely flexible and helped find dates that worked with our schedule. We were unsure how many students might attend and noted that we might not be comfortable using hammers and/or drills. Many of our students face personal challenges that affect their attendance and behaviour. The previous week was a very difficult week at school – tensions were running high. The staff and I were quite worried that the project might be a bust – that the kids would not show up or would refuse to participate.

When we arrived with seven kids, Cam (along with Rick and Nancy who work at the park) greeted us. All the tools and materials we would need for the project were ready – and even a few ponchos to lend the kids when it started drizzling. They clearly explained the work we needed to do (and why we were doing it) and asked for volunteers to help hammer the first spike.

There was a moment of silence, then one of the tough kids said: “Yo, I’ll do it.” This was all it took and, quite quickly, all

the kids were getting involved, carting wood from the pickup truck to the fence site, drilling and hammering in spikes. My colleagues and I looked at each other in amazement – we had never seen our kids so willing to work together, and all concerns about safety around power tools faded as the parks staff guided the kids through the project.

At the end of the day, the kids felt a great sense of accomplishment at having completed a project that will be a permanent fixture in the park and that they could come back and see for many years. They felt they had gained some skills; the staff and I knew they had bonded and worked together in the process.

MV Regional Parks Stewardship News | Fall 2014

In many of our parks there is a draw for people to jump off the trails and explore in solitude the quiet and beauty of the forest. When enough people do this, we begin to see impacts. Small trails become big trails, plants become trampled and the ground gets compacted making it hard for new seeds to take root. Over time, the forest gets fragmented and invasive species begin popping up along these new corridors.

This spring, a group of volunteers with the Pacific Spirit Park Society helped close a few heavily used unsanctioned trails by building fences, digging up the trails and planting native trees, shrubs and ferns. Despite the wet weather and some lingering snow on the ground we accomplished a lot thanks to the enthusiasm of our volunteers! This work has helped restore some sensitive areas in the park and is preventing the spread of invasives – thanks for the help!

Volunteers help restore damage caused by off-trail use

By going off-trail, people and dogs degrade important habitat.

Hands-on experience inspires students to a job well done

This beautiful fence is the result of hard work done by students.

MV Regional Parks Stewardship News | Spring 2014MV Regional Parks Stewardship News | Spring 2014

For more information, please contact:

Roy Teo, Stewardship TechnicianMetro Vancouver Regional ParksRoy.Teo@metrovancouver.org604-530-4983

THE FIRST EVER ECOBLITZ IS COMING TO TEN REGIONAL PARKS THIS YEARWherever you live in the Metro Vancouver area, there is a regional park nearby where you can come out and join the fun at the inaugural Ecoblitz on Saturday, October 25. You can lend a hand by removing invasive plants that have numerous impacts to the health of our regional parks or help plant some native species that will benefit wildlife and help increase biodiversity.

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BURNABY

COQUITLAM

ANMORE

PORTCOQUITLAM

SURREY

DELTA

RICHMOND

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NEWWESTMINSTER

WHITE ROCK

LANGLEY TOWNSHIPLANGLEY

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LIONS BAY

BELCARRA

PORTMOODY

PITT MEADOWS

TSAWWASSENFIRST NATION

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Pacific Spirit

Boundary Bay

Iona Beach

Campbell Valley

Aldergrove

Minnekhada

Tynehead

Barnston Is

Kanaka Creek

Brae Island

Matsqui Trail

SumasMtnInterregional Park

Fraser RiverIslands

LynnHeadwaters

Belcarra

Derby Reach

Colony Farm

ThwaytesLanding Widgeon

Marsh

Surrey Bend

Burnaby Lake

Capilano River

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Glen Valley

West CreekWetland

North Alouette Greenway

Regional Parks

Park ReservesLimited Public Access

Ecological Conservancy Areas No Public Access

WatershedsNo Public Access

Fraser Valley Regional District

LSCR (Lower SeymourConservation Reserve)

Greenwaysunder development

METRO VANCOUVER GREENSPACE

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REGIONAL PARK (MUNICIPALITY) ECOBLITZ PROJECT

1 Crippen (Bowen Island) Plant trees and shrubs along a decommissioned trail

2 Pacific Spirit (Vancouver) Plant native species where knotweed has been removed

3 Iona Beach (Richmond) Help restore a rare ecosystem by planting native species

4 Boundary Bay (Delta) Plant native roses along the road edge to improve habitat

5 Burnaby Lake (Burnaby) Remove English ivy to improve habitats

6 Minnekhada (Coquitlam) Remove invasive species to improve habitats

7 Tynehead (Surrey) Plant native trees and shrubs to restore a section of the park

8 Kanaka Creek (Maple Ridge) Remove invasive species to improve fish habitat

9 Campbell Valley (Langley Township) Plant trees and shrubs to help green a wildlife corridor

10 Aldergrove (Aldergrove) Plant trees to reforest a part of the park