El Cerrito Environmentalists Restore Cerrito Creek
By: Sabreena Verma
“Jackpot!” shouted Landon, triumphantly yanking a large clump of invasive catchweed bedstraw out of the mud near Cerrito Creek. “Can you throw this in the bucket?” he asked his classmate, Briel. “I’m going to find and remove all the bedstraw, so that the native plants have more room to grow!”
KIDS for the BAY students in Teacher Sarah Chang’s fifth grade class at Harding Elementary School in El Cerrito helped protect the health and biodiversity of Cerrito Creek. Guided by Friends of Five Creeks volunteers and KIDS for the BAY Educators, students removed wild onion and catchweed bedstraw from the creek habitat, using trowels to pry up invasive plants. “It’s important that we’re pulling up all of the root systems so that the native plants, like horsetail and white root, can grow,” shared Ulises.
This Environmental Action Project was the capstone of the KIDS for the BAY Watershed Action Program at Harding Elementary this school year. KftB Educator Sabreena Verma collaborated with Friends of Five Creeks, a local organization focused on improving the health of five major creek habitats in the East Bay, to make this project possible. Students met with the president of Friends of Five Creeks, Susan Schwartz, to learn more about Cerrito Creek. “Cerrito Creek is actually a span of creeks, with the northernmost one lying pretty far north from here. The southernmost one is in Berkeley. These creeks flow down from the Berkeley Hills and connect just below San Pablo. So, when we say Cerrito Creek, it’s a pretty widespread body of water,” explained Susan, as the group walked along the Ohlone Greenway.
Friends of the Five Creeks volunteers also told the class that they would be removing invasive plants from the creek habitat. They helped students identify invasive plants including catchweed bedstraw and wild onion, while also pointing out native plants such as horsetail and white root.
Equipped with protective gloves and trowels, students began to locate and remove invasive plants. “You guys missed this patch of bedstraw!” one group called to another and hurried to remove the invasive plants. “This stuff is annoying, it sticks to your clothes!” observed Milla, trying to shake bedstraw off her hand and into a bucket.
Students smelled the wild onion, also known as Naples garlic or Allium neapolitanum, a plant native to Italy, before they saw it. “Wow, you can really smell the onion!” said Ian. “The wild onion looks nice and you can eat it, but these plants can take over the whole place, so we try to control them,” explained Susan. “This is all wild onions!” said Kayra, upon discovering a big patch. “I’m going to take this home and use the onions for soup!” said Gabby.
After about half an hour of rigorous weeding, students took off their gloves and reflected on their restoration efforts. “It feels really great knowing that we made this habitat healthier!” said Ali. “I like visiting Cerrito Creek, and it’s important to take care of it. Getting rid of all the invasive plants that are growing out of control, and knowing that I did something good for the environment, makes me feel proud,” concluded Nora.
Students were thrilled to protect the important aquatic habitat at Cerrito Creek. Thank you, Friends of Five Creeks volunteers, for working with KIDS for the BAY and making this special Environmental Action Project possible!
