Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Several volunteers walked around the Alewife Brook Greenway surveying the area for invasive plants.
Green Cambridge is a non-profit organization that spreads environmental awareness in Massachusetts.
Volunteers were being trained to identify and map invasive plant species, such as Oriental Bittersweet and the extremely common Buckthorn.
Mapping is done through Green Cambridge’s partner organization, Earthwise Aware’s Invasive Flora Patrol.
This public, easy-to-use project is used to report and monitor invasive plant species across the Greater Boston Area.
Green Cambridge member and TerraCorp Community Engagement Coordinator Grace Rumowicz led the event.
She explained how some of these plants ended up in the state.
“A lot of invasives were brought over for many different reasons, some of them were for decorations or for planting,” said Rumowicz. “I know some of them were also brought over for erosion control, due to their root system, but then eventually began to spread.”
Green Cambridge uses information from the research for future removal efforts and the planting of native plant species.
This is part of a long-term ecological management plan made in partnership with Parterre Ecological.
Rumowicz said invasive plants aren’t the only issues with the Alewife environment.
The outflow of raw sewage into waterways during storms or rainfall creates "combined sewage overflow."
Rumowicz said our current sewer system can't contain both rain and sewage, which can cause environmental and public health issues.
She added that she appreciates being able to spread awareness to her community.
“The work we’re doing on a small scale matters,” said Rumowicz. “But what really matters is getting people to care about the local environments, connecting community members, and creating lifelong advocates.”
Find more information about Earthwise Aware on its website here.