WATCA - WA Tree Canopy Advocates

16/06/2026

📍Bayswater. What would YOU call this? 🪓We don’t know whether this “pruning” was carried out by Western Power or the City of Bayswater, but in the city with Australia’s lowest canopy, surely we can do better.

09/06/2026

😊🌳Huge news for tree protection! This mature rose gum was being cut down when concerned residents raised the alarm.🪓Because Town of Bassendean has a policy protecting mature trees, approval was required before it could be removed. The owner applied to remove the tree. Council did not approve, finding the benefits of retaining the tree outweighed the reasons given for removal. The owner then appealed to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT). Last week, the SAT upheld the town's decision. The tree stays. ✅💚This is what happens when communities, councils and good planning policy work together for everyone's future. 💚🌳😊

05/06/2026

🌱Today is World Environment Day.🌱

We often hear about tree planting targets, but there's a simple problem: If we keep clearing mature trees faster than we can replace them, it's like trying to fill a bath without the plug in.🛀

🌳That's why protecting existing trees has to be part of the solution.

💚Thanks to The West Australian for featuring WATCA in today's World Environment Day special report.

Read article in comments.

08/05/2026

🎂💚🌳 Happy 100th birthday to the incomparable Sir David Attenborough. He’s our Hero.🥰💪🌳💚

23/04/2026

🏡We know how to build suburbs with trees because we've done it for generations. But under WA's current state planning framework, every single tree can be cleared before development even begins.🪓We're building new suburbs with no trees and it's not sustainable. We need urgent planning reform so new suburbs retain canopy. Trees + housing don’t need to compete - we can do both. Change the rules. 🌳🏡

11/02/2026

🌳💚Trees are the key to a cooler city. Govt needs to act. 💪

16/01/2026

🛎️This afternoon, the WA State Government released its long-awaited Urban Greening Strategy for Perth & Peel.

The strategy has been billed as a ‘roadmap to boost tree canopy and cool our cities’, but the detail doesn’t match the promise.

❌NO ACTION PLAN.
❌NO TIMELINES.
❌NO ACCOUNTABILITY.

❓The strategy contains no published action plan and no enforceable commitments.

🏡 Around 80% of tree loss happens on private land, yet responsibility is pushed onto councils, schools and community groups - while developers, responsible for most canopy loss, face no consequences.

🪓 The strategy acknowledges that retaining mature trees is the most effective form of urban greening, but offers no enforceable measures to protect them.

😠 Despite being presented as a ‘roadmap’ to ambitious targets, it provides no credible way to get there.

🥵 A roadmap with no direction, and a govt unwilling to regulate developers or ban their political donations, will only lead to hotter, less liveable cities.

08/01/2026

🤔 Melbourne gets it. Why don’t we? A new suburb in outer Melbourne is mandating 30% tree canopy + 2 trees per home to reduce extreme heat.🏡The local council says it's creating happier neighbourhoods with less reliance on cars. Meanwhile in WA:
🪓New outer suburbs are almost treeless 🥵in Australia's hottest capital with the lowest canopy cover. Trees aren't optional - they're infrastructure. New housing shouldn't mean treeless suburbs. If we retain just some mature trees and mandate new ones from day one, we tackle heat at the planning stage.🌳Full story in comments.

12/12/2025

🥳Cockburn is the 8th Perth metro council to adopt the WALGA Local Planning Policy to protect large trees on private land. 💚🌳Cockburn joins Nedlands, Bassendean, Peppermint Grove, Cambridge, Fremantle, South Perth and Victoria Park in leading the fight against our Tree Canopy Crisis🥵. Is YOUR suburb protected? If not, let’s get your council moving!💪. Perth has the lowest tree canopy in Australia + 80% of tree loss is happening on private land.🪓

07/11/2025

😳It’s official - Perth’s Tree Canopy Crisis has hit the big time. Cheers The Bell Tower Times for calling it.🌳

The WA Museum will soon exhibit a tree so residents of Perth's sprawling new suburbs can remember what one looks like