The clouds were threatening to rain, but the weather remained cool for Rivers Day 2010 at Burnaby’s Fraser Foreshore Park.

We had signed up with Evergreen to take part in their invasive plant species removal program and help with weeding Japanese Knotweed growing on the banks of the Fraser River.

Volunteers were provided with a variety of gardening tools and gloves.

Andrew from Evergreen gave us a little demo of how to go about the removal process.  After the demo we were set for some knotweed removal!

The young volunteers got right in, cutting and cleaning the tall bushes. With knotweed it is important to remove and bag all freshly cut stems since it only takes a tiny stem to re- grow into a plant.

Later we informed by our Evergreen coordinators that the volunteers helped remove over 3 cubic meters of knotweed and contributed to Evergreen’s ongoing study of how to best manage the invasive plant.

Another Evergreen member conducting the Blackberry bush removal.

After, we had a chance to check out the other participants:

Rehabilitation Society for Birds of Prey:  www.owlcanada.ca

City of Burnaby Food Scraps Recycling program: www.burnaby.ca/foodscraps

The Land Conservancy: Helping protect the Clearwater Wetlands and Wildlife Corridor

Paul Colangelo:  Local wildlife and nature photographer specializing in editorial assignments and conservation efforts. He had some amazing work displayed on the Sacred Headwaters of B.C.: http://www.paulcolangelo.com/

Learn to fish conducted by Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC – gofishbc.com

Traditional songs being performed on Rivers Day 2010

All in all a great day!