VANCOUVER -- Artists of all ages were invited to Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park Saturday to take part in a green holiday craft.
The Capital Regional District hosted its "Forest Festivities" event at the Beaver Lake Nature Centre from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering guests the opportunity to make cards and ornaments from recycled materials.
Participants also used invasive species removed from the park by volunteers to create wreaths and other Christmas decorations. Among the invasive plants on offer were Scotch broom and English holly.
"We do have to make sure the holly doesn't have berries, because we don't want to spread the invasive plants," said Emma Jane Vignola, a CRD park naturalist.
Vignola said the free event was intended to provide an opportunity to learn about invasive species while interacting with the park in an unexpected way.
"We're just trying to give people the opportunity to kind of recreate in the parks in a different way," she said. "We're trying to give people some ideas to have fun making things for yourself instead of just needing to buy things."
Amateur naturalists looking to forage some Christmas decorations should be aware, though: The CRD doesn't want people harvesting plants or animals from regional parks on their own.
Those interested in volunteering with the regional district to help remove invasive species from parks can learn more about the program on the CRD website.
