Did you know that many invasive and weedy plants have high value to herbalists, foragers, and artists? A collaborative approach to invasive plant management reimagines land stewardship projects by bringing these people in to harvest plants while they help eradicate them from the landscape.
Through her business, Joyful Wildcrafting, Lea Sevigny works to bring together land stewards, foragers, herbalists, and artists to learn from each other while fulfilling the ultimate goals of increasing biodiversity and connecting with nature. This collaboration is successful because both park staff and foragers benefit from the removal of the invasive plant. They have found volunteers who attend this type of event have varied levels of experience with using wild plants for food, medicine, or art, but they share a common desire to peacefully connect with nature.
Joyful Wildcrafting has a goal to see more partners in the West Michigan Conservation Network with knowledgeable foragers and herbalists on their stewardship committees. Joyful Wildcrafting hopes adding knowledgeable wildcrafters to the land management conversation will allow various lenses to be represented and people will learn from one another.
By collaborating with Cascade Township Parks and Ada Township Parks and Recreation, Sevigny and her colleagues have helped eradicate pervasive plant species. Events have targeted removals of invasive Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii), Sweet Woodruff (Gallium odoratum), and Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica). In all cases, the species were eradicated from the areas instead of being treated with herbicide.
Using best management practices during removal is a priority. Volunteers are conscientious in properly and thoroughly disposing of the unusable plant parts. Sevigny works closely with land stewards to determine how best to work with each species. For example, in the case of Sweet Woodruff, the aboveground part are desired for their unique aroma and flavor. Volunteers carefully removed the plants by the roots, breaking away the aboveground portions to keep, while putting the roots into black plastic bags for the landfill/ incinerator. With Japanese Barberry, all the fruits used in food recipes were removed and the roots dug to make berberine-rich medicine such as tincture, vinegar and glycerite. Then volunteers disposed of the above ground parts of the bush.
Plant removal efforts are posted in the Facebook group Land Stewardship for Wildcrafters: Sustainable Plant Removal with Purpose.
Don’t forget that invasive plants should NEVER be composted because the compost pile does not get to a high enough temperature for enough days to destroy all parts of the invasive plant.
So what do you get when a forager, an herbalist, and a land manager walk into the woods? Endless possibilities to connect with nature.
West Michigan Conservation Network 