Written By, Simryn Dhensaw, Jillian McLeod & Jose Reyeros.
Over the month of October, the YCCBC Vancouver Team has collaborated with the CTS Youth, in ecosystem restoration and invasive species removal work at the Burns Bog in Delta.
To kick off the event, we were honoured with the presence of Elder Ruth, from the Tsawwassen First Nations, members of Metro Vancouver Staff, and a group of like-minded youth looking to make a difference through their contribution to the ecosystem. This event included sharing a catered lunch featuring local foods and storytelling surrounding connections to the bog and the importance of the wetland for many Indigenous Nations along the Salish Sea. At this time we were also provided tea from the Kwantlan First Nation, a blend foraged through native species found within the bog. As a tour of the bog was being facilitated, the YCCBC Vancouver Crew accompanied this journey, learning about the local biodiversity of this ecosystem. This included being able to identify and understand the traditional importance of species such as Bog Laurel (Kalmia microphylla), Labrador Tea (Rhododendron groelandicum) and Bog Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos).
Following the kickoff event, a team went out into Burns Bog to remove lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) saplings, which have been transforming the bog into a forest. Bogs are nutrient poor environments in which species such as labrador tea, bog cranberry, bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum) can thrive. Unfortunately, in 2016 a fire burned across 38 hectares of Burns Bog, thereby promoting the release of seeds from pine cones and spreading saplings throughout the disturbed area. This led to a mass germination of pine, with the species establishment adding nutrients to the ground, damaging the peat moss, and resulting in the release of carbon. Bog environments are excellent carbon stores, making this a critical ecosystem for climate change mitigation efforts. As Burns Bog is ‘the lungs of the Lower Mainland’ the continued safeguarding of this ecosystem is essential to the region’s wellbeing.
Each day, the team cut the pines at the root crown, which kills the saplings. They then removed the cut trees from the bog so that the nutrients could not be deposited back into the peat through the process of decomposition. Over the duration of our work, the team cleared pine from two hectares of the bog, aiding Metro Vancouver’s efforts to clear the total thirty-eight hectares, approximately half of which have already been removed over the past few years.
Having access to this kind of work in ecosystem restoration is a reminder of the many forms that climate action can look like. While the day-to-day responsibilities of the youth team working on-site seem quite simple; grab some tools, cut some pines, and place them in a container, there was a delicate connection with the cultural relevance and high impact that these actions have for First Nations communities and the health of the Metro Vancouver ecosystem. Overall, this project requires challenging bureaucracy, expensive resources, and time-consuming logistics that can only be achieved through a collective effort between different sectors and organizations.
The cross-sectoral nature of this project could not be achieved without the support of the Metro Vancouver Parks Foundation and The Great Blue Heron Way team. At a strategic level, the restoration of the Burns Bog is part of a legacy project that seeks to reconnect First Nations communities with their histories and cultural networks in alliance with Trails BC.
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