The Central Westcoast Forest Society welcomed the West Coast to a Volunteer Day on Friday to help tackle an invasive Japanese Knotweed population at Ucluelet’s Big Beach.
“It’s really great to have volunteers out today to learn a bit more about what’s happening in the area,” said the CWFS’ Nora Morrison. “I think a lot of people aren’t aware of certain things, like invasive species for example, so it’s really awesome to come out and educate people, let them get their hands dirty a bit, and just get involved with the community more in what we’re doing.”
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Project manager Megan Francis said volunteers helped remove knotweed and plant native vegetation in the area and suggested Big Beach is “a really important place to start with Ucluelet’s battle against knotweed,” because of its high activity.
“Lots of people are using this area for recreation and enjoying the beach and the ocean so it’s a good place for us to bring this issue to the attention of a lot of people,” she said.
Vancouver’s Christina Lal was delighted to dig into the volunteer opportunity.
The 35-year-old student studying ecological restoration and conservation at Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology has spent the summer volunteering throughout Vancouver Island.
“I came here because there’s so many different organizations and committees that are working together and there’s so many places where you can go and find opportunities to help with the environment and help people on the projects that they’re doing and the research they’re conducting,” Lal said. “It’s fun to support people who are doing really good work. I think right now, with climate change and everything that’s happening with the environment, it’s going to take communities working together to make real, impactful change.”
Lal volunteered in clam gardens with Skye Augustine before arriving on the West Coast on Aug. 15. She was thrilled to find opportunities to take part in ecological restoration projects with the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and the Ucluelet Aquarium’s microplastics survey.
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“We don’t get these things in Vancouver. It’s not as easily accessible. Here, the accessibility is unreal. You can just walk around and see a group working on something and join them,” she said adding she was delighted to see so many women in the field.
“It’s really empowering to work with women who are doing amazing work,” she said. “It’s neat to be in the field and noticing that everyone around me is a woman. It’s awesome.”
She said her West Coast experience “exceeded all my expectations,” and added that she hopes locals take advantage of the opportunities in their backyard.
“It’s really important for local communities to do as much as we can right now,” she said. “It’s not even just about the environment or anything like that, it’s also about making connections with people and having a great day just hanging out with your neighbours and your community. It’s a great way for people to come together and do something really good.”
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