Ten Actions to stop the spread of invasive plants
- Be informed –about high-risk invasive plants; sold and regulated
- Be a role model – refuse & remove from home, encourage others
- Educate – posts, posters, stories
- Make it real – share photos & videos of invaded natural areas
- Speak out (respectfully) –at nurseries, public gardens (sample letter)
- Write about it – blog, post, news article, tell your story
- Spread the word about CCIPR (share our video)
- Volunteer with a stewardship group that removes invasives
- Reach out to other environmental groups, garden and service clubs
- Contact our politicians and write to (or cc) Ministers of CFIA, ECCC, DFO and Prime Minister to express concern about this issue
- Municipal/mayor – in person, strategic plan, bylaws, share our resolution
- MLA/MPP – improve provincial regulations
- MP – Share our White Paper,, ask for federal action
To learn your Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Members of Provincial Parliament (MPP) click links below:
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- Ontario
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Northwest Territories
- Nova Scotia
- Nunavut
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
- Saskatchewan
- Yukon
More things to do:
Contact your mayor or local representatives and ask them to develop a strategic plan to address the threat of invasive species and recommend they develop local bylaws to prevent sale and spread of invasive plants.
Talk to nurseries, landscapers, and those who manage public gardens. Ask them to support the National Voluntary Code of Conduct for the Ornamental Horticulture Industry and stop selling, buying, or planting invasive plants. Here are some lists of invasive plants that should not be sold. (Help us develop a certificate they can post.)
Contact news media from your local newspaper to national news outlets. CCIPR prepared a Press Release (pdf September 1, 2022)
Key talking points, videos, presentations, and graphics ideas, to help you spread the word:
Click to view or download (links open in new tab)
Two-page CCIPR overview, as pdf
A 2-minute promotional video on CCIPR’s mission to protect biodiversity https://youtu.be/JkbdJUt9cGM.
Click here to view a CCIPR presentation to Master Gardeners across Canada on “Reducing the sale and movement of invasive ornamental plants” (https://youtu.be/RvKU-n2I4vM ).
Click here to view another CCIPR Presentation explaining why Prevention is Key (pdf)
Here are some Instagram Ideas. Share or create your own to spread the word.
- Stop the Flow png poster featuring periwinkle.
- Stop the Spread pdf poster featuring hogweed, multiflora rose, and parrot’s feather.
- Did you know png post featuring 28 plants that should be regulated in Ontario.
- Prevention is key showcases the impact of infestations.
- Share your story encourages the sharing of stories and photos to personalize the problem
- Did you know? – horticulture is the primary pathway for invasive plant introductions.
- Urgent action is needed – focuses on the economic costs.
- Action is Needed Now variation on Stop the Spread above.
- Please make your own and share your ideas with us.
Here is our CCIPR Logo in English and for our CCRPE en Français friends.