The National Capital Commission (NCC) has decided to remove widespread buckthorn from Atlantis Woods in Ottawa’s Westboro Beach neighbourhood after the community pressured them to improve the forest’s health.

Removing the invasive shrub was part of the NCC’s original plan to redevelop Westboro Beach, according to Westboro resident Kristen Hayes.

Hayes said she and other locals were consulted over how to remove the buckthorn, but the NCC initially chose not to go ahead with the removal efforts.

That prompted the community to share their concerns with CBC in August.

The NCC began removing the buckthorn on Oct. 28 and finished on Friday.

“We heard the community,” said NCC biologist Alex Stone.

‘Out-competes’ native plants

Buckthorn is a “highly invasive” shrub that discourages other trees and plants from growing, according to Stone. Wherever it grows it “out-competes” the native trees and shrubs, which are preferred by pollinators.

In August, Valérie Dufour, the NCC’s senior manager of strategic communications, told CBC that removing buckthorn in Atlantis Woods did’t end up in the Westboro redevelopment plan due to budget constraints.

“The complete removal of the species in the area would be an intensive exercise and would require years of work to eradicate it entirely,” the statement said.

The NCC did not respond to CBC about how it found room in its budget to handle the buckthorn.

But Stone agreed it will be a long process, even though all the buckthorn above ground has been removed.

“The buckthorn can come back,” he said. “Whether [there are] seeds in the area or whether it’s growth from attack roots, we have to continue to eliminate new growth.”

Kristen Hayes in the Atlantis Woods in August 2024, before the work got underway. (Anchal Sharma/CBC)

But in the meantime, the hope is that other non-invasive plants will be able to thrive. Hayes said members of the community marked young trees in the forest with tape so the NCC crews wouldn’t remove them.

“It’s a little bit of shock and awe [for the community] that it’s so bare 1731866465, which just goes to show how much buckthorn was there,” Hayes said.

Stone said his team at the NCC is working with the Westboro Community Association and Rideau Valley Conservation Authority to organize an event in the spring where locals can come out and help replant native species like red maple and burr oak.

“Engaging communities is really important for us,” Stone said. “We wouldn’t be able to do a lot of these invasive species projects without them.”

Hayes said she’ll happily pick up a shovel when the time comes.

“It’s a community’s responsibility to oversee those spaces that are next to you, because other people don’t necessarily watch those types of problems develop,” she said.

“Maybe this can happen in other places, with guidance from experts and access to bigger machinery … maybe we can clear out and revitalize some more green spaces. We aren’t the only ones that are having this issue.”

A tree uncovered by NCC crews that removed the buckthorn. ‘We’re trying to speed up the establishment of the forest,’ Stone said. ‘We’re hoping that it will become established in the next five years.’ (Submitted by the National Capital Commission)