Shawnigan Lake, BC: Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) Parks & Trails volunteers along with BC Parks staff, and student BC Park Rangers, worked together this June to clear Memory Island Provincial Park of invasive Scotch broom. The small island located within Shawnigan Lake is a Provincial Park that is cooperatively managed by the CVRD.

For the past three years the CVRD Parks & Trails Volunteer Program has worked with dedicated community volunteers and BC Parks to remove overpopulation of blooming invasive Scotch broom on the island, some of which had grown to a great height. This year, the team can claim success as all of the large plants that were producing seed have been cut and removed from the island by boat to be properly disposed of at a local waste disposal facility.

This year’s collaborative effort took place on June 25 and 26, and saw an impressive 1,200 kilograms of Scotch broom taken out of the park.

BC Parks and the CVRD honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. Memory Island’s special ecosystem provides habitat for a variety of native species of plants and animals.

For the full news release visit: https://www.cvrd.ca/DocumentCenter/View/110192/CVRD-News-Release—Memory-Island-Scotch-broom-removal