Restoration of Haro Woods: Designing a Program for University Students to Carry Out On-Campus Restoration

Abstract

The University of Victoria has provided restoration education as part of the Environmental Studies (ES) curriculum for several years and student class projects have identified several restoration projects on the UVic campus. In 2011, the Restoration Volunteers Network (RVN) club was established to introduce university students to restoration activities in the community. The objective of this project is to organize a campus restoration work party led by the RVN students in an area on campus identified in previous student class projects. The specific goal of the work party is to remove the invasive species Daphne Laurel (Daphne laureola) from Haro Woods, a 1.1-hectare area of disturbed Coastal Douglas-fir forest owned by the University. The project team consisted of four students and the work party successfully achieved 100% removal of Daphne Laurel in the prescribed area. Since its Campus Plan 2003, UVic has committed to preserving and enhancing natural areas on campus and treating the campus as a living laboratory. This project demonstrates that student-led small project-oriented teams organized according to “Guerrilla Marketing” principles can become a resource for the University to achieve its sustainability goals concerning the restoration of on-campus natural areas.