Students help combat invasive plant in Tiny Marsh

A group of students spent a day this week learning about and combating an invasive species in the local wetland.

About 40 Elmvale District High School students were at the Tiny Marsh wetlands, working alongside officials from the MTM Conservation Association. The students were learning about phragmites, a species that first started invading the area about 15 years ago.

"It's a real challenge to get ahead of it, to control the spread of it, so we don't lose the marsh to become a phragmites monoculture," says David Hawke, the volunteer coordinator for the MTM Conservation Authority.

Deemed Canada's worst invasive plant more than ten years ago, phragmites are invasive plants that spread fast and release toxins from their roots into the soil, killing surrounding plants.

As time goes by, the plant gets thicker, eventually causing many problems like preventing ducklings from walking through the area, stopping turtles from being able to lay their eggs and displacing other plants.

"We've got a great opportunity with these students today to get rid of Phragmites reed, this big tall reed that's an invasive plant," says Hawke. "We have a lot of it, and many hands make lighter work."

Hawke says the work the students were doing this week, cutting down the phragmites, not only helps the wildlife but assists the conservation group with future operations in the area.

The MTM Conservation Authority is a non-government group and relies on the public for support.

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