The Bricoe Woods Project
This fall, Friends of the Coves Subwatershed and ReForest London partnered on a rehabilitation project at Briscoe Woods.
Briscoe Woods, found at the west end of Briscoe St., is part of the Coves Environmentally Significant Area (ESA). It includes a wooded upland area and a wooded slope leading down to Silver Creek which flows north into the Coves ponds. Briscoe Woods provides vital habitat and a migration route for wildlife as well as providing water filtration and retention services.
A vacant lot adjacent to Briscoe Woods is the site of this new project which aims to protect biodiversity, increase habitat and enhance the natural buffer surrounding the Coves ESA. Extensive European Buckthorn removal activities over the past few years were the first step of the project in order to considerably reduce the population of it so that a rehabilitation planting would have a greater chance of success. Reforest London funded planting material and prepared a plan for the site while FOTCSI recruited volunteers for a community planting day and committed to maintenance of the site for the next two years. Around 100 community volunteers gathered in the open area at the entrance to Briscoe Woods on what turned out to be a beautiful October day to plant 250 native trees, shrubs and vines as well as acorns, hickory nuts and wildflower seed.
European Buckthorn is a non-native, invasive shrub often found growing along forest edges and invading forest understorey. It grows in dense stands and holds its leaves late into the winter, creating unnaturally shady conditions and suppressing growth of native tree seedlings. It is also believed that European Buckthorn may produce a substance that inhibits the growth of other species, although this substance/mechanism has yet to be understood.
Above and Below - Volunteers pitching in to plant native plant species alongside Briscoe Woods
"Take a breath, thank a tree," MP Ed Holder
Above left to right - Jaclyn Goodwillie of FOTCSI, MP Irene Mathyssen, MP Ed Holder and Julie Ryan of Reforest London. All were out to help with the Briscoe Woods Project.
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