Monday April 10, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Want to plant a tree in Langford on Earth Day?
You can do that on Saturday April 22 at the Langford Earth Day event at Willing Park. Residents are welcome to attend, to participate as Parks staff guide the process.
Participants are encouraged to walk, cycle or roll to the event, though for some the distance to arrive at the park will require a vehicle, especially with kids in tow. Public transit is another option.
Tree-planting by the public will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Types of trees:
Seedlings (sapplings) of Douglas Fir, Red Cedar and possibly Hemlock are 30 cm tall, only a year old. Easy to plant.
“We will be providing shovels, spades, etc. so the public can dig their own small holes for the seedlings,” says Parks Administrative Coordinator Megan Treleaven.
The larger trees will be Paperbark Maple, Redbud, June Snow Dogwood, Dove Tree/Kleenex Tree, Siberian Larch and Siberian Spruce. Tree pits for the larger trees will be marked and prepped and Parks staff will be in attendance to assist.
Tree locations:
The larger trees will be located within and around the perimeter of the new grass area at Willing Park (which is approximately 3,380 sq m or 36,382 sq ft). “We will also plant up already treed areas if we have enough seedlings,” says Treleaven.
Three-hour event:
The event runs 10 am to 1 pm. Participants can drop-in and stay as long as they like.
There will be light refreshments and e-bike demos as well.
A person’s overall stay would be anywhere from about 30 minutes to a few hours depending on how many trees they would like to plant.
Family-friendly:
This is a family-friendly. Kids must be supervised by a parent or guardian.
If people bring their dogs, the dogs must be on a leash on the field, or off-leash in the designated off-leash area next to the field.
Invasive species action:
Parks staff will also be removing some invasive species on April 22, and will welcome the public’s help.
About Earth Day:
Earth Day was first celebrated on 22 April in 1970, often considered as the birth of the environmental movement. Over the years, Earth Day has become the largest participatory environmental movement on the planet.
For Earth Day 2023, EarthDay.org asks people to “act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably). Businesses, governments, and citizens — everyone accounted for, and everyone accountable”. A partnership for the planet.
“The time is now to create a generation of citizens, workers, students, and leaders ready for climate change. We need public understanding of how to stop climate change and environmental harm,” says EarthDay.org.
In addition to planting trees, other types of activities suggested for Earth Day include enhancing your climate literacy, managing the use of plastics, using your voting power to support environmental protection, doing cleanup efforts in natural environments, and choosing/using clothes sustainably.
==== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends is a long-standing publication in the west shore of South Vancouver Island (fourth in a series that began with print publications MapleLine Magazine 2008-2010, Sooke Voice News 2011-2013, and West Shore Voice News 2014-2020, which then emerged as Island Social Trends fully online in mid-2020).
Based in Langford, IslandSocialTrends.ca covers news of the Greater Victoria area and south Vancouver Island, with insights on BC and national issues.
Island Social Trends editor is Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., Cert PR. She is a long-time journalist, delivering news through a socioeconomic lens, and now reports with the BC Legislative Press Gallery.
Island Social Trends continues to build the Island Social Trends Food Security Archive with articles about food security on south Vancouver Island and current developments around food sustainability across BC and nationally. Food security will be an issue in any major event like an earthquake or tsunami. Island Social Trends covers Environment and Sustainability news.