NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Horticulturist Andrea Eastham speaks to a large audience Saturday, May 4, 2019 at Police Point Park during the Invasive Species workshop.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
Hatters flocked to Police Point Park Saturday for the first ever Invasive Species Workshop put on by the Grassland Naturalists.
The event ran All afternoon Saturday and it hosted a number of speakers to help people learn about invasive species in our region.
“Today is about learning,” said one of the event’s organizers, Rob Gardner. “We’re going to be looking at invasive species as a whole, but there will be an emphasis on plants that can move into southeastern Alberta and displacing native plants.
“Toward the end of the day we’re going to be talking about how we can work together on this.”
The event drew a large crowd Saturday and Gardner says it is important to get together and talk about issues.
“The Grassland Naturalists have been working on invasive species for a while and we thought it would be important to bring people together and talk about this,” he said. “We’ve been very pleased with the turn out – just over 50 people out today and it looks like it’s standing room only.”
Gardner says invasive species are not just a local issue.
“This is a problem all around the world – different species are impacting different places,” he said. “Our modern society is transportation-oriented and it’s easy for plants and animals to move around to places where they’re not adapted and can cause serious problems.”
Gardner says goldfish are a major invasive species around the Hat.
“People get bored of them and put them in bodies of water near parks,” he said. “When they spawn they stir up the mud and disturb the plants.”
