Charlottetown taking invasive species out of Victoria Park

Crews are grinding up the stems of unwanted trees and shrubs here in Charlottetown's Victoria Park. It's part of the invasive species management work they're doing to protect the forest. You can really think of it as kind of like a large weeding project almost. We're taking out the things that are destructive to the ecosystem and replacing them with things that we want. These are the fruits from glossy buckthorn. Some of those unwanted species are glossy buckthorn, Norway maple and Asiatic bittersweet. Wilmot says they've moved in, and if you don't take care of it, they'll keep expanding. That's bad for not only the heritage of the area, but bad for wildlife as well, because the wildlife, the insects, have all evolved with the native species to the Wabanaki Acadian region. And these European species aren't as nutritious, aren't what they're looking for. Another problem in Victoria Park are two invasive species killing American beech trees. That's what a lot of the canopy used to be made of. Wilmot says one is a pathogen that causes cankers on the tree, the other is an insect that attacks the leaves. As the trees die, it opens up spaces for more sunlight to get in, which can stimulate the growth of invasive species. The impact of the beech bark canker and beech leaf mining weevil is devastating, but also we had Fiona at the same time. So all those things really strip that southern section of our forest of its canopy. So we're building it back, but we're building it back with much greater diversity. The plan is to remove the stems, destroy the roots, and put wood chips down. Over 20 different types of species will then be planted, like sugar maples. That way, if they lose a couple of species, the forest is still okay. Connor Lamont, CBC News, Charlottetown.