How To Get Involved
How To Get Involved
Ready to make a difference in your local environment and community? Here are some ideas which make it easy for anyone to take action against invasive species, whether you’re ready to start your own community service project, excited to develop creative resources, or just keen to get outside and make a difference!
3 Hours
Complete the onboarding package
Learn about the invasive species council, watch a webinar, join the Facebook group, etc. (Youth volunteers)
1+ Hour
Become a community scientist
Community Science is for everyone! Join our network and explore a variety of activities online and outside and connect with our growing network of nature lovers.
1–5 Hours
Create a self-development plan
Identify your values, use those values to create goals, build timelines to describe how you will achieve those goals and use our volunteer program to help you complete your timeline.
2 Hours / Webinar
Watch a webinar
Visit ISCBC’s event page for upcoming webinars or watch recorded webinars in ISCBC’s webinar gallery.
1–4 Hours
Identify neighbourhood plants
Grab a plant ID book or download an app and start learning the basics of identifying plants! This includes names of plant features and seasonality. Record plant observations in your neighbourhood.
1–4 Hours
Participate in a bioblitz
A bioblitz is a communal citizen science effort meant to record as many species within a designated location and time period as possible. Checkout this online Bioblitz Guide for more info!
1–4 Hours
Connect with your local community
Research local communities and organizations who are taking action against invasive species. Learn about what’s already being done near you, and think about how you can learn from and build on the work that is happening! Hint: your local municipality website is a great place to start.
10–25 Hours
Neighbourhood nature inventory
Start exploring your nearby greenspaces – a park, stream or even your backyard! Identify the surrounding plants, animals, and insects in your neighbourhood, measure their abundance. Keep record of the various species and continue to monitor to find out how the biodiversity or ecosystem around you is everchanging.
2 Hours
Learn about the Species at Risk Act
How does the Species at Risk Act work? Explore the list of species that are included in the act in British Columbia. If you’re looking to work in the environmental sector, this is something that often arises in interviews and screening processes. Check out the Species at Risk Act.
4–5 HOURS
Become Plantwise!
Read about our Plantwise program and discover how you can prevent the spread of invasive species in your own backyard. Share your newfound knowledge with friends and family so that they too can become Plantwise and help reduce the spread!
1+ Hours
Global invasives
Invasive species wreak havoc not just in BC but worldwide! Look up an invasive species in another country and share the info on social media.
1+ Hours
Canada’s species abroad
Did you know species native to BC may be invasive in another region? Find one and share on social media.
2–4 Hours
Host a discussion group
Pick a topic of interest and do some background research. Identify current issues (example: the impacts of herbicides on bees) and invite people to debate or discuss this idea.
3+ Hours
Reflect
Grab a paper and pen and start writing out a personal reflection. Focus on any past experiences you’ve had with habitat conservation, what motivated you and the impact that you were able to make. Reflections help you understand yourself better and prepare yourself for future action.
1–5 Hours
Design an invasive-free garden for your local area
Enjoy gardening? Research your local growing conditions, read up on our Plantwise program and start designing your very own invasive free garden!
1–4 Hours
Participate in a bioblitz
A bioblitz is a communal citizen science effort meant to record as many species within a designated location and time period as possible. Checkout this online Bioblitz Guide for more info!
2 Hours
What’s your ecological footprint?
Calculate your ecological footprint, a way of measuring your personal impact on the natural environment. See how you compare to others and learn tips and tricks to shrink your footprint!
2+ Hours
Be energy smart
Explore ways to reduce your energy consumption around the household and beyond!
1+ Hours
Learn how Climate Change impacts the spread of invasive species
Climate change is transforming weather and ecosystems across the globe. Learn how these global trends will affect life and what you can do about it!
2-6 Hours
Pull the plug on plastic
Plastic fills our homes and dumps, often ending up in the environment where it harms wildlife, pollutes landscapes, and impacts human health. You can audit your own waste habits and work towards a plastic-free lifestyle.
20+ Hours
Local park stewardship
Start by identifying a local park that needs attention. Reach out to your facilitator for guidance on planning:
- how to perform a nature inventory
- creating a proposal for your parks board
- how to work in the park effectively and safely
- how to recruit more volunteers to help you
- how to document and share the work you’ve completed.
20+ Hours
Lead a Shoreline or Trail Clean-up
Leading garbage clean-ups are incredibly important because they
take unwanted plastic pollution out of the ecosystem.
2–6 Hours
Create an invasive species info sheet
Design a document that helps people identify an invasive species and provides recommendations for what to do if you encounter the species. Use online programs like Photoshop and Canva, or take a stab at freehand!
4+ HOURS
Build a plant press
Create your own plant press! By preserving plants, we can help conserve plant biodiversity and expand our plant identification knowledge. To get started, checkout our “Plants Under Pressure” how-to video to get started!
3+ Hours
Reflect
Grab a paper and pen and start writing out a personal reflection. Focus on any past experiences you’ve had with habitat conservation, what motivated you and the impact that you were able to make. Reflections help you understand yourself better and prepare yourself for future action.
2–6 Hours
Design a colouring sheet
Design an invasive or Indigenous species colouring sheet for children to enjoy. Need some inspiration? Checkout our current gallery of colouring sheets and other educational resources to get your creative juices flowing.
1–5 Hours
Design an invasive-free garden for your local area
Enjoy gardening? Research your local growing conditions, read up on our Plantwise program and start designing your very own invasive free garden!
1–5 Hours
Make an invasive species poster
Design an engaging poster that educates people about an invasive species issues in your area.
1–20 Hours
Neighbourhood map
Describe the location of different features in your neighbourhood. This can be artistic or scientific. A nature inventory can help you make a more accurate map and you can share this with your community to help others identify their neighbourhood ecological features.
5+ Hours
Get cooking
Did you know you can eat your weeds? Share an invasives recipe with friends and family. Check out Eat the Invaders for ideas!
2–7 Hours
Create a scavenger hunt
Plan a route through your neighbourhood that includes native and invasive plants and create clues to help people locate the plants. Hide small indicators at each stop and share the scavenger hunt to your community!
2–5 Hours
Write an invasive species song
Use musical expression to communicate your knowledge of invasive species.
2–5 Hours
Write a nature poem
Flex your creativity and express yourself.
20+ HourS
Make a herbarium
Pick, identify and press a number of plants (invasive and natural) in your area to keep as an identification tool.
1 Hour
Share invasive species info on social media
Write a post that inspires action about an invasive species in your area. Share on your own social media (but don’t forget to tag us!).
5+ Hours
Start your own blog
Start your own blog, posting about topics that are important to you.
5+ Hours
Paint invasives
Grab your brushes and started painting. Checkout our past webinars on “The Art of Painting Botanicals” to get started!
5+ Hours
Start a podcast
Love to talk? Start your own podcast on invasives or other conservation topics that are important to you. This is a great way to share your knowledge and get creative while doing it.
5+ Hours
Get crafty
Help protect your environment by getting crafty with zero waste, environmentally friendly projects such as beeswax wraps and fabric bags!
3+ Hours
Write a story
Put your writing skills to the test and start writing your own narrative surrounding the theme of environmental conservation.
1 Hour
Join “I Spy and Identify”
Want to protect BC’s biodiversity by observing and reporting plants and animals? Join the “I Spy and Identify” project on the iNaturalist!
10+ Hour
Plant propagation for planting
Read this article to learn how to grow your own plants from clippings!
1–2 Hours
Report invasive species
Download the Report Invasives app and go looking for invasive species to report in your neighbourhood.
4–10 Hours
Start a vermicomposter
Make a worm bucket. Adopt some pet worms and feed them food scraps to reduce your carbon footprint and receive rich organic compost for your garden.
2–8 Hours
Plan an interpretive walk
Select a local area of interest. Identify natural features you’d like to highlight. Plan a nature walk for your fellow volunteers!
2–8 Hours
Invasive weed pull
Spend the day identifying and removing invasive species at a local park or recreation site.
2–5 Hours
Create an ecosphere
An ecosphere is a self-contained vessel that can support a thriving ecosystem. Try this fun activity to discover the diverse life in your own backyard!
3–8 Hours
Garbage clean-up
Identify a local area near you that needs some love. Grab some trash bags, gloves, a mask and get cleaning!