URBAN TREE CANOPY

How the West reaches its Best:

  • Expand funding for the Urban Greening Grant Program
  • Develop and implement a comprehensive, Statewide Urban Forest Strategy to guide the planning and management of the urban canopy across Western Australia, including the setting of a tree canopy target of 30% by 2040 for the Perth and Peel regions and measures to retain trees on private land
  • Appoint a lead agency responsible for overseeing and coordinating the implementation of the Strategy

Planting trees and increasing native vegetation in urban areas are vital strategies for both mitigating and adapting to higher temperatures, more extremely hot days, and longer, more intense heatwaves associated with climate change. Trees reduce urban heat, cooling local environments by up to 10°C, enhance stormwater infiltration, provide food and shelter for wildlife, and improve human health and wellbeing.

Perth has the lowest tree canopy cover of any Australian capital city, at just 16%, and approximately 41% of Local Governments have reported significant canopy loss. Between 2011 and 2020, Perth lost a quarter of its urban canopy, mainly due to the clearing of private land for development. Only 22% of suburbs in the metropolitan area have more than 20% canopy cover.

Local Governments are making concerted efforts to reduce tree loss on private land and are implementing extensive tree planting programs in street verges, parks, and other public areas. The State Government is also contributing by enhancing the urban canopy through its Urban Greening Grant Program delivered by WALGA and its commitment to developing an Urban Greening Strategy for the Perth and Peel regions.

A long-term funding commitment and investment in tree planting through an expansion and extension of the Urban Greening Grant Program is required to increase urban canopy and support existing Local Government tree planting efforts. $40 million over the next decade will support the planting of at least 150,000 trees and 500,000 understorey plants. Funding should cover the full lifecycle costs of planting and maintaining trees, recognising that most expenses arise from activities supporting growth, establishment, and juvenile tree care.

Tree planting is only one component of what needs to be a comprehensive and strategic approach to growing and managing our urban tree canopy. While the State Government has committed to an Urban Greening Strategy for Perth and Peel, this should be expanded to cover urban areas across the State.

The Strategy should aim for a minimum tree canopy target of 30% by 2040 for the Perth and Peel regions. It should also focus on tree retention, as 80% of urban trees are on private land and are being lost at a rate that planting on public areas cannot offset. The current state planning system lacks the guidance, policy mechanisms, and tools to adequately regulate trees on private land, often allowing development applications to proceed without considering tree removal. An effective and efficient State Government regulatory mechanism is needed to enable Local Governments to treat the removal or alteration of a tree as a form of development requiring approval.

The appointment of a lead agency with responsibility for delivery of the Strategy is crucial. This agency should manage coordination, resourcing, funding mechanisms, program evaluation, partnership facilitation, and planning policy review.

Infrastructure WA considers investing in urban tree canopy as a key infrastructure need and priority, making the following recommendation in the State Infrastructure Strategy:

Contribute to infrastructure and community resilience in the urban environment and support the equitable provision of an interconnected network of cover by developing an overarching urban forest program, including:

  • Assigning a lead state agency to provide overarching coordination, resourcing and funding mechanisms.
  • Embedding program evaluation to ensure it remains fit for purpose.
  • Extending the existing Urban Canopy Grant Program to increase the urban tree canopy across the Perth and Peel regions, and other major regional urban centres.
  • Partnering with local governments, community groups and other land managers in the rollout.
  • Further reviewing existing planning policy settings with regards to the treatment of trees in new greenfield and infill development.

RESPONDING TO THE POLYPHAGOUS SHOT-HOLE BORER BIOSECURITY EMERGENCY

How the West reaches its Best:

  • Provide additional State Government funding to escalate the response to the spread of the Polyphagous Shot-Hole Borer
  • Develop a PSHB Recovery Plan to commence recovery immediately, including funding for replanting and research into alternative treatment methods

The Polyphagous Shot-Hole Borer (PSHB) is a biosecurity emergency which is having a devastating impact on tree canopy across the Perth metropolitan area.

With no effective chemical treatments for PSHB currently available, tree pruning and removal of infested trees is the only way to contain the borer. More than 3,000 mature trees have been removed so far, many of which are located in the most iconic and important areas of Perth, including Kings Park, Rottnest Island, Perth Zoo, Hyde Park and around Lake Claremont, as well as suburban streets, parks and reserves.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is responsible for responding to PSHB as part of a nationally coordinated and funded biosecurity response. Local Governments are allocating significant resources to support the response effort, including through undertaking surveillance programs to detect early signs of infestation, informing and providing educational material to their communities, tree management and facilitating removal as required.

Despite these efforts the infestation is still growing. We are now at a critical tipping point. Without an urgent and substantial increase in resourcing to escalate the response and remove bureaucratic hurdles that are hampering the response, the PSHB will not be eradicated, or even contained. Not only will this further decimate our already shrinking urban tree canopy, but it also puts agricultural crops, such as avocado and citrus and our native forests, at risk.

While the focus remains on responding to PSHB, it is also essential that we begin the recovery process now. The State Government should establish a PSHB Recovery Plan, which would include funding for replanting lost trees with a diverse mix of PSHB and climate-resistant species and investment to accelerate the development of alternative prevention and treatment methods to combat the borer and build the resilience of our urban tree canopy.

MORE THAN 3,OOO MATURE TREES HAVE BEEN REMOVED SO FAR, MANY OF WHICH ARE LOCATED IN THE MOST ICONIC AND IMPORTANT AREAS OF PERTH

DISASTER-RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE

How the West reaches its Best:

  • Establish a $10 million annual reserve fund for the disaster resilient reconstruction of essential public assets to ensure that critical infrastructure can be quickly restored and made more resilient to future disasters

More frequent and severe disasters due to climate change come at a growing cost to the economy and communities. In 2020, natural disasters cost the Australian economy $38 billion annually, a figure projected to reach $73 billion by 2060.

WA has experienced 38 declared disasters since 2020, impacting 80 of 139 Local Government areas. Over $39 million was spent on essential public asset reconstruction through Category B of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) in WA in 2022-23 alone.

The creation of a dedicated betterment fund will enable Local Governments to rebuild essential public assets to a more resilient standard to withstand the impacts of future natural disasters and save money for all levels of Government in future disasters.

Under the current DRFA in WA, Local Governments receive funding for emergency works and reconstruction on a like-for-like basis only.

A lack of funding to upgrade essential assets to improve resilience against future disasters leaves infrastructure vulnerable to repeated damage in subsequent disasters. A dedicated fund for resilient reconstruction would supplement DRFA investment, assisting Local Governments to rebuild essential assets to a more resilient standard and potentially leveraging further investment from the Australian Government.

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements recognised the significance of betterment funding, recommending the ‘build back better’ principle be incorporated more broadly into Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

This approach has been adopted in Queensland with positive results. Since 2013, 531 betterment projects have been completed, with 81% experiencing little to no damage in subsequent disasters. This approach has delivered clear financial benefits with savings of $397.5 million estimated in avoided reconstruction costs, compared to an investment of $174 million over a decade.

Fitzroy River Bridge Restored, Shire of Derby, West Kimberley

WA HAS EXPERIENCED 38 DECLARED DISASTERS SINCE 2O2O, IMPACTING 8O OF 139 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

COASTAL MANAGEMENT

How the West reaches its Best:

  • Extend, expand and restructure CoastWA to protect coastal communities and assets from erosion and inundation
  • At least $150 million dollars is needed for coastal adaptation over the next five years

Coastal erosion and inundation from more intense storm surges, storm tides and sea level rise associated with climate change pose a serious threat to critical infrastructure like ports and roads, public assets, homes and ecosystems in coastal communities.

In 2019 the State Government identified 55 coastal erosion hotspots—15 in metropolitan areas and 40 in regional areas — where coastal erosion is expected to impact on public and private physical assets and require management and adaptation action within the next 25 years. An additional 31 locations are on a watch-list for future consideration. In 2019, the State Government estimated that managing the identified erosion hotspots would cost $110 million over five years, with more funding needed over the longer term. The State Government is also currently mapping coastal inundation hotspots, which will identify additional areas requiring management and adaptation action.

Local Governments are tasked with managing coastal hazards through State Planning Policy (SPP) 2.6, which requires a sea level rise of 0.9m by 2100 to be considered in coastal planning (noting that this sea level rise factor is currently under review and is likely to increase), but do not have sufficient financial or technical capacity to do so.

It is essential that long term funding is provided to support Local Governments’ efforts to plan and implement significant and more complex adaptation projects. While some additional funding was allocated through CoastWA in 2020-21, this level of investment is well below the State Government’s own estimate of what is required to effectively manage the identified hotspots and does not include funding for inundation management and adaptation. This is reflected in the 2023-24 Coastal Adaptation and Protection Grant Program, which was over-subscribed, with only half of the project applications receiving funding.

An expanded and extended CoastWA Program (currently only funded to 2025-26) is needed to ensure our coastal hotspots are protected. Funding of at least $150 million over the next five years is required to cover future adaptation needs for both erosion and inundation, and take into account rising construction costs, newly identified hotspots, and increasing risks.

Changes to CoastWA funding parameters are also needed:

  • Timeframes for implementation of projects should be extended. It is unrealistic to expect large scale construction projects to be implemented within one financial year.
  • Maximum grant funding should be increased to allow for large-scale projects to be funded from CoastWA. For example, Stage One of the Port Beach erosion project – at a cost of $3.25 million – could not be funded from CoastWA.
  • CoastWA grant funding rounds should be aligned with Federal Government funding opportunities to support larger scale projects. This will allow Local Governments to use CoastWA funding as part of their co-contribution to Commonwealth funded projects.
  • Co-contribution requirements for smaller Local Governments should be reduced. Large scale coastal adaptation projects can be very costly and smaller Local Governments with a lower rate base may not be able to provide a 50% co-contribution.
55 COASTAL EROSION HOTSPOTS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED TO REQUIRE ACTION WITHIN THE NEXT 25 YEARS