SNAP helps to enhance riparian areas and engage with the community at Newton Pond Park.
What we're doing
The field team is helping to enhance the park’s natural ecosystem by removing invasive plant species in the summer and planting native trees and shrubs in the fall. The outreach team will provide nature interpretation through hosting tents, speaking with park visitors, and creating posters and signage.
What's at Newton Pond Park?
The park features stormwater detention ponds created by the City of Surrey to improve water quality and mitigate erosion. These ponds are not only beneficial for the urban environment surrounding the park but they are also great for the local birds. You’ll see many ducks, geese, redwing blackbirds and maybe even a great blue heron or osprey when you visit! Birding books or online resources for bird ID can be a great tool to learn more about these birds or any others you may come across.
Newton Pond Park is a great place to enjoy nature and observe wildlife in their natural habitat. However, it is important to give wildlife space and not to feed them because human interaction negatively affects the animals’ health and safety.
Nest boxes are set up along the edges of the ponds to create homes for tree swallows. The habitat surrounding the pond is perfect for swallows because they can feed on the insects around the pond and collect necessary materials, like grass and aquatic plant debris, to build their nests in the boxes. Fun fact - these nest boxes were made by grade 8 students in a leadership class at Panorama Ridge Secondary School!
The area around the ponds is considered riparian, and is where much of the enhancement work will take place. Healthy riparian habitat is important to support the wildlife that relies on it, but can also make for beautiful views that park visitors can enjoy.
Keeping our parks litter-free is another way to ensure a healthy habitat for wildlife and clean park for visitors. The field and outreach teams will be litter-picking in Newton Pond Park throughout the summer and fall. If you want to help keep the park clean, Pack it in, Pack it out. There are trash cans at each entrance to the park to aid park users in keeping the park litter-free.
Our future blog posts may include information on invasive plant species, what a healthy riparian habitat consists of, and interesting facts about the park’s wildlife!
To learn more...
Check back every month for updates on the Newton Park Project and learn more about the ecosystem’s creatures and features. Posters and signage are going up in the park to provide fun facts and relevant updates of the project.