This year we were helped by a hard working, hilarious crew! Most of the volunteers also play basketball together at school.  They joked and laughed together while they worked.  I loved the “blackberry brigade” they figured out!  Clearly they are used to working as a team. 
We focused on removing invasives from the area adjacent to the "salamander meadow", since there were nesting songbirds in the area adjacent to the gravel path.
Volunteers hauled out four bags of English Ivy and a huge pile of Himalayan blackberry.
​Best of all we heard a woodpecker and lots of song sparrows, and saw the red backed salamanders that are so unique to that little wetland.   

After a 2 year hiatus due to Covid restrictions, we again organized a work party in the park adjacent to École Hammond Bay.  This event started in 2017 and makes a tremendous positive impact on the biodiversity and ecological integrity of the park.  It gives graduating elementary school students an opportunity to give back to an area they enjoyed playing and learning in.

On June 21, 2022 a hard working group of grade 7 students and their families removed invasive plants in Morningside Park.  This year we were also joined by the school principal and other community volunteers.  We reflected on our commitment to understanding how human activities have impacted the stream ecosystem in the same way that settler activities have impacted indigenous communities.  Spending time tending and appreciating this place is an act of reconciliation as much as environmental healing.

We targeted blackberry bushes that are crowding out native plants in the riparian area, and Bur chervil that's growing along the gravel path to the tennis courts.  We also continue to carefully pull ivy and bag it for safe disposal.  We watch the maples grow taller and provide shade for native plants like Salal, Orgeon grape and ferns.  We continue to reflect on how we can educate the children who enjoy this space about how to prevent erosion, and avoid disturbing the animals that live in and around the creek.

This was the third year grade 7 students from École Hammond Bay participated in a work party to give something back to this community park that has been a place to explore and appreciate nature during their time in elementary school.  Parents conceived this project as a way for students to be meaningfully involved in fundraising for Grade 7 year-end activities.  Each year students gather pledges for a couple of hours of work with the Walley Creek Streamkeepers, DFO and City of Nanaimo staff.  Extra funds are donated back to the Streamkeepers, who use the funds to help with our outreach and education activities.  Every year the young people have a chance to learn about the importance of native plants and trees to stabilize the stream banks and provide shade and habitat for fish, amphibians, invertebrates, and mammals that live along Walley Creek.  Then they participate in removing invasive species like Daphne, Himalayan blackberry, and ivy so that native plants and trees can flourish.  Their hard work and enthusiasm help us accomplish so much in this beautiful little City Park!

This was our first project with the graduating class of École Hammond Bay!  Parents wanted a fundraiser that would involve the students and give something back to the community.  They approached us about a work party where students would raise pledges in exchange for a couple of hours after school spent working with Walley Creek Streamkeepers. After an important tutorial on why we remove invasive plants (they outcompete native species and decrease biodiversity) and the difference between Oregon grape and holly (the first one stays, the second goes), we got to work.  Our crew  of 30 students, 10 parents, 2 teachers, and Walley Creek Streamkeepers removed 2 big bags of garbage, and 4 large piles of blackberry, ivy and holly from the riparian area in Morningside Park, beside the school.