A young Coquitlam environmentalist is helping educate local hikers about native plants.
Megan Walker, a former youth leader of the Lower Mainland Green Team, created a series of 10 interpretive signs that were recently placed at Reg Franklin park in Maple Ridge.
The signs feature poems about the importance and Indigenous names of local flora researched and composed by Walker and illustrated by artist Vicky Earle. They’ll be moved around to various parks and along trails in the Lower Mainland as well as Greater Victoria in conjunction with Green Team activities like clean-ups and invasive species removals.
“I hope that learning more about local biodiversity will encourage others to connect with nature and become environmental stewards in their communities,” said Walker in a news release. “I strongly believe that learning more about the environment can help us understand all the reasons it’s so important to protect it, and I really hope that these signs can contribute to that.”
Green Team program manager Ashton Kerr said the new signs are a fun way to engage and educate people about the local environment and the group’s activities that help connect young people to their natural environs. She added they’ll also encourage people to keep an eye out for local plants and how to protect them.
Last November, the group helped clear more than 87 bathtubs worth of invasive species from Thurston Park in Port Moody.
