Campus Native Plant Garden Working Group

Background

In 1993, VIPIRG Native Plant Committee alongside Brenda Costanzo, a biology faculty member, proposed the need for a garden resembling the natural forest community. Education and relaxation were goals of the VIPIRG native plant committee when they started this project in what they called, the MacLaurin Wetlands. Native plants were planted, and native plant symposiums were held and the garden seemed to be fulfilling it’s objectives. However, with the departure of Constanzo, the Native Plant Committee dwindled. The collective commitment to stewardship lapsed — it is now over-run with invasive species and could use some care and tending and friendship.

Reviving the Campus Native Plant Garden

In the fall of 2011 VIPIRG decided to revive the committee to care for the MacLaurin Wetlands. The group is focusing on pulling invasive plant species and planting native plants at the Native Plant Garden beside Maclaurin Building, at UVic in the homelands of the Lekwungen Peoples. We’re interested in: working with facilities management around removing ivy and other invasive plant species, focusing on reinstating plants that are useful for Lekwungen families, and looking into using the garden as an education tool, an informal native plant ‘nursery’, and an example of what restoration can look like.

Join us

Do you want hands-on learning about supporting balance in local Indigenous plant and food systems?Or if you already have knowledge about local plants and ‘restoration’ we invite you to share what you’ve learned. Join the Campus Native Plant Garden Working Group and help us give this wetlands the restorative attention it needs.

For more info or to be added to the email list contact us!