This year’s stats are in for SSISC’s 2017 Invasive-free Certification Workshops:
- This was the 7th year of the program
- We have trained a total of 48 companies since 2011 when the program began.
- 11 workshops were held in June and July.
- 3 of the workshops took place at the Cheakamus Centre in Squamish, where we introduced a new Outdoor Learning component exploring the management of invasive species on site.
- 21 companies and 95 individuals participated. 6 of these were new to SSISC’s Invasive-free Certification program. It was an exciting year, as we had a larger turn-out of earthmovers than ever before.
- Topics discussed at the workshops included: existing invasive species to be aware of, new species like the European fire ant and Nutria; treatment methods and species specific approaches, proper disposal and how to report sightings using the Report-A-Weed app.
Participants who attended the workshops received a USB information pack with a copy of the SSISC ID & Management Guide, species specific management recommendations for species like Japanese knotweed, stickers, and decals for their work vehicles permitting them reduced disposal rates for invasives at local transfer stations. This year, many more plant samples were shown for hands-on learning. A number of participants helped out after these sessions by actively removing invasives and/or reporting locations to SSISC.
We look forward to hosting more outdoor workshops at the Cheakamus Centre next year!
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