KAMLOOPS - With $3 million in funding provided by the Province of British Columbia, the Invasive Plant Council of BC will create a new employment program - called Take Action - that will train and hire up to 150 people to help prevent and reduce the spread of invasive plants around B.C., Minister Steve Thomson announced recently.
With this funding, the Invasive Plant Council of BC will work with the province’s 12 Regional Weed Committees to place local, multi-person Take Action Teams around the province. The teams will be trained to undertake work identified as critical and specific to their local area, such as:
• Working with key community groups to reduce the introduction and spread of new invasive plants.
•Identifying and inventorying priority invasive plants in the immediate and surrounding communities.
• Immediately and quickly removing newly introduced invasive plants.
• Monitoring changes in public awareness and behaviors to reduce the introduction of invasive species.
The Invasive Plant Council of BC will also partner with the Grasslands Conservation Council of BC to help protect sensitive grassland ecosystems threatened by invasive plants.
An invasive plant is not a weed. An invasive plant is a non-native plant that has been introduced, either intentionally or accidentally, from other areas. A weed is thought of as an unwanted plant in a given area, such as a vegetable garden or lawn.
– submitted by Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations