Briar Howes considers herself an optimist.
But walking through Atlantis Woods in Ottawa’s Westboro Beach neighbourhood on a hot Saturday morning, the biologist finds her usual hopeful demeanour hard to maintain.
“When we first moved [to the neighbourhood], there were still trilliums on the forest floor,” she said, explaining that the native plant’s presence in the wooded plot off Atlantis Avenue was “a great sign of forest health.”
But that was a decade ago, and now the forest floor is almost completely covered in buckthorn — an invasive species Howes calls “one of the biggest threats to Canadian biodiversity writ large.”
Now Howes is bringing her concerns to the attention of the National Capital Commission (NCC), which she thought had planned to eradicate the buckthorn as part of their plan to redevelop Westboro Beach.
Grows quickly, makes forests inhospitable
Howes’s assessment of buckthorn’s danger is accurate, according to Alex Pottekkat, the program development co-ordinator at the Invasive Species Centre.
The group works to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species across Canada.
“[Buckthorn] kind of create their own perfect world,” said Pottekkat of the leafy, thorn-covered bush.
Once the plant takes root, Pottekkat said, it grows quickly and releases a chemical that decomposes in the soil — making it inhospitable to native species, and in turn, making the forest inhospitable to other wildlife.
Howes said she’s seen that happen at Atlantis Woods in real time.
“I [used to see] great horned owls and … lots of other migratory birds like bohemian waxwings, which are really special to see in an urban environment like this,” she said.
Would take ‘years’ to eradicate
Key parts of the NCC’s plan for the area included a vegetation strategy to protect and enhance the wildlife habitat.
But the redevelopment project is nearing completion and the woods have remained untouched.
In a statement, Valérie Dufour, the NCC’s senior manager of strategic communications, said the removal of buckthorn in Atlantis Woods wasn’t included due to budget constraints.
Dufour said the team behind the redevelopment project is considering potential mitigation measures for other invasive species in Atlantis Woods, but buckthorn isn’t a high priority due to its abundance.
“The complete removal of the species in the area would be an intensive exercise and would require years of work to eradicate it entirely,” the statement said.
That’s not a problem for Kristen Hayes, another longtime resident who’s also invested in the health of the forest.
“I can point to 50 people in the neighbourhood right off the top of my head that would gladly donate their time and their strength and their shovels and all of those things if we could get some direction and permission [from the NCC],” she said.
Residents ready to do their part
While Hayes understands why the federal urban planning organization wouldn’t want “guerrilla gardening” to take place, she says she’s already noticed some new native species sprout up in the forest.
Having the NCC’s permission to plant more of such species themselves, she said, would help curb some of the residents’ frustrations.
Hayes points to the Selby Plains pollinator garden, which sits just steps away from Atlantis Woods.
That project was a collaboration between the Westboro Beach Community Association and the NCC, which allowed residents to remove the buckthorn on the land and plant native species like silverweed, common yarrow, milkweed and New England aster.
“There are people from all over the neighbourhood that come on a regular basis to water or to weed or to plant new native species,” she said. “They built it. They maintain it.”
Best time to remove buckthorn in the fall
If the neighbourhood were to get the NCC’s permission to dig up the buckthorn themselves, Pottekkat suggests they don’t wait.
“It is definitely a case where the longer you leave it, the worse it’ll be,” he said.
“It’ll take more effort, it’ll cost more to manage but … if the community really wants to put effort into it, I do believe that restoration is viable.”
He adds that fall would be the best time to start, since the soil is looser.
Howes digs that plan.
“This is my call to action to the NCC. We know you can be good stewards,” she said. “Work with the community, find a way to restore this important little forest patch.”