Forty volunteers were at Kanaka Creek Regional Park on Sunday planting 500 native plants and trees, including Pacific crab apple, bitter cherry, sitka spruce, snowberry, thimbleberry, and red elderberry.

The planting session was organized by the Lower Mainland Green Team and was hosted by KEEPS (Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society) and Metro Vancouver Parks.

Of the 40 volunteers, 30 had never been to Kanaka Creek park before, and for 31, it was their first time planting native trees and plants in a park.

Volunteers came from around the Lower Mainland, from Mission, Chilliwack, Vancouver, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, Langley, White Rock, and Burnaby.

The Lower Mainland Green Team is a meetup group that regularly goes to different communities around Metro Vancouver to improve parks and public spaces.

This was the second time the green team has been in Maple Ridge and they are planning another planting session on Nov. 3 to remove ivy and periwinkle again from Kanaka Creek Regional Park.

For more information about the Nov. 3 event, go to www.meetup. com/TheLowerMainlandGreenTeam/events/75035442. The event runs rain or shine. No experience is necessary, and tools, gloves, and refreshments provided.