Project Background
The University of Waterloo Sustainability Office, in consultation with Grounds Services and other stakeholders, is developing a Sustainable Landcare Standard. Included in the standard is a commitment to “identify and develop remediation plans for invasive species” (action 3C). Invasive species can include plants and animals. These pose a threat to native biodiversity, and they are often considered undesirable or nuisance species. Controlling the propagation of invasive plant species in particular can be labour-intensive and is often only feasible with pesticide applications. The University of Waterloo is therefore looking to better understand what invasive species are a problem on its grounds, where invasive species are a problem, how to control invasive species using best practices, and how to help non-invasive species thrive and become more resistant/resilient to invasive species.
This work supports the UW Sustainability Strategy Objective 09: by 2025, all University grounds will be maintained according to sustainable landscaping standards, and plans developed for remediation and preservation of specific natural areas of concern. This work also relates to UN Sustainable Development Goal 15.
Project Examples
- Documenting invasive species on University Campus grounds with species name, location, population size and images where possible
- Researching any regulatory requirements for managing or removing the documented invasive species
- For common invasive species, research best practices for:
- Eliminating the species from the site or controlling its propagation, this might include an escalation approach with milder tactics used first and pesticides used as a last resort
- Remediating the site or ecosystem to allow native species to be re-established
- Reducing the likelihood of the invasive species getting re-established
- Developing a monitoring system to evaluate the effectiveness of remediation protocols
- Making any further recommendations for invasive species remediation plans