The Town of Victoria Park is undertaking a minor review of its Urban Forest Strategy, and we want your input! As one of the Town’s most collaborative guiding documents, community feedback is essential to shaping the strategy for the next five years.
A brief history
Back in 2018, our passionate community raised concerns about Perth’s poor tree canopy and increasingenvironmental pressures threatening our urban forest. This led tothe Town’s first Urban Forest Strategy – a community-initiated and community-driven vision for a greener future.
Since 2019, the Urban Forest Program has flourished, with locals rolling up their sleeves at our annual community planting days, collecting free plants at our plant giveaways, and championing a greener and more sustainable Town.We've also expanded the Town’s urban canopy through successful initiatives like our leafy streets tree planting program, green basins program, and urban ecosystems program.
The results speak for themselves – the urban forest program has earned national and even international awards, proving that when our community comes together, we make a real impact.
While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, there’s still much more to do. Despite our best efforts, we continue to face significant challenges in growing and sustaining our tree canopy. Now is the time to review and refine our approach to ensure we stay on track to meet our long-term greening goals.
Strategic outcomes
The 2019-2025 Urban Forest Strategy focused on six key outcome areas. These areas, along with our progress since 2019, are shown below:
Strategic outcome
Progress to date
Strategic outcome 1: Plant and protect sufficient trees by 2020 to achieve 20% projected canopy cover
Since 2018, the Town has made considerable efforts to plant new trees, adding over 600,000m2 of projected canopy cover.
Canopy levels have been mapped every two years since 2020. The chart below compares the projected canopy coverage with actual canopy cover (trees over 3 meters tall).
Year
Projected canopy
Actual canopy
2020
13.63%
12.3%
2022
15.03%
12%
2024
15.71%
11.7%
While the Town has made considerable efforts to plant new trees, our urban forest faces numerous threats including harsher, drier summers, and invasive pests like PSHB. Most notably, tree loss on private property accounts for the majority of the Town's canopy decrease.
Strategic outcome 2: Maximise community involvement and collaboration
Community involvement has been central to the success of the Urban Forest Program. The establishment of the Urban Forest Implementation Working Group was key to ensuring consistent community input and collaboration. The program also delivers a range of community-focused initiatives, including annual planting days, a strong urban forest grants program, and the popular annual plant giveaway.
Strategic outcome 3: Increase tree diversity, favouring local endemic and WA species that support local wildlife.
The Town plants over 143 different endemic plant and tree species, with 100% of species planted along Kent Street ecological corridor endemic to the Town.
Street tree species are carefully selected for their suitability to verge planting, resilience to pests and diseases, and ability to thrive in our warm, dry climate.
Strategic outcome 4: Maintain a high standard of vegetation health
The Town collects and contracts the propagation of endemic species, which are replanted throughout the local area. Using locally sourced seeds supports the genetic resilience of new vegetation.
A strong infill planting program also ensures the success of these efforts, with new plantings regularly monitored for health and replaced as needed.
Strategic outcome 5: Improve soil and water quality
Through the green basin sub-program, the Town has renovated seven drainage sumps and planted 25 trees along Albany highway with permeable paving to improve for water harvesting.
Strategic outcome 6: Improve urban ecosystems by enhancing biodiversity, green infrastructure, and green corridors in the Town.
The Town plants over 143 varieties of endemic shrubs and trees though our planting projects, 28,249m2 converted from turf to ecological habitat along Kent Street and Hayman Road.
What now?
Five years into the Urban Forest Strategy and it’s time to review andrefine our approach to create an updatedstrategy that will support our collaborative work into the future.
Before proceeding, we encourage everyone to review the 2019-2025 Urban Forest Strategy here.
Share your thoughts
The Town is calling for input from all community members from 15 April to 13 May 2025. To share your thoughts, fill out our quick online survey below or get in touch with us directly at admin@vicpark.wa.gov.au or 9311 8111.
Shape the future of our urban forest
The Town of Victoria Park is undertaking a minor review of its Urban Forest Strategy, and we want your input! As one of the Town’s most collaborative guiding documents, community feedback is essential to shaping the strategy for the next five years.
A brief history
Back in 2018, our passionate community raised concerns about Perth’s poor tree canopy and increasingenvironmental pressures threatening our urban forest. This led tothe Town’s first Urban Forest Strategy – a community-initiated and community-driven vision for a greener future.
Since 2019, the Urban Forest Program has flourished, with locals rolling up their sleeves at our annual community planting days, collecting free plants at our plant giveaways, and championing a greener and more sustainable Town.We've also expanded the Town’s urban canopy through successful initiatives like our leafy streets tree planting program, green basins program, and urban ecosystems program.
The results speak for themselves – the urban forest program has earned national and even international awards, proving that when our community comes together, we make a real impact.
While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, there’s still much more to do. Despite our best efforts, we continue to face significant challenges in growing and sustaining our tree canopy. Now is the time to review and refine our approach to ensure we stay on track to meet our long-term greening goals.
Strategic outcomes
The 2019-2025 Urban Forest Strategy focused on six key outcome areas. These areas, along with our progress since 2019, are shown below:
Strategic outcome
Progress to date
Strategic outcome 1: Plant and protect sufficient trees by 2020 to achieve 20% projected canopy cover
Since 2018, the Town has made considerable efforts to plant new trees, adding over 600,000m2 of projected canopy cover.
Canopy levels have been mapped every two years since 2020. The chart below compares the projected canopy coverage with actual canopy cover (trees over 3 meters tall).
Year
Projected canopy
Actual canopy
2020
13.63%
12.3%
2022
15.03%
12%
2024
15.71%
11.7%
While the Town has made considerable efforts to plant new trees, our urban forest faces numerous threats including harsher, drier summers, and invasive pests like PSHB. Most notably, tree loss on private property accounts for the majority of the Town's canopy decrease.
Strategic outcome 2: Maximise community involvement and collaboration
Community involvement has been central to the success of the Urban Forest Program. The establishment of the Urban Forest Implementation Working Group was key to ensuring consistent community input and collaboration. The program also delivers a range of community-focused initiatives, including annual planting days, a strong urban forest grants program, and the popular annual plant giveaway.
Strategic outcome 3: Increase tree diversity, favouring local endemic and WA species that support local wildlife.
The Town plants over 143 different endemic plant and tree species, with 100% of species planted along Kent Street ecological corridor endemic to the Town.
Street tree species are carefully selected for their suitability to verge planting, resilience to pests and diseases, and ability to thrive in our warm, dry climate.
Strategic outcome 4: Maintain a high standard of vegetation health
The Town collects and contracts the propagation of endemic species, which are replanted throughout the local area. Using locally sourced seeds supports the genetic resilience of new vegetation.
A strong infill planting program also ensures the success of these efforts, with new plantings regularly monitored for health and replaced as needed.
Strategic outcome 5: Improve soil and water quality
Through the green basin sub-program, the Town has renovated seven drainage sumps and planted 25 trees along Albany highway with permeable paving to improve for water harvesting.
Strategic outcome 6: Improve urban ecosystems by enhancing biodiversity, green infrastructure, and green corridors in the Town.
The Town plants over 143 varieties of endemic shrubs and trees though our planting projects, 28,249m2 converted from turf to ecological habitat along Kent Street and Hayman Road.
What now?
Five years into the Urban Forest Strategy and it’s time to review andrefine our approach to create an updatedstrategy that will support our collaborative work into the future.
Before proceeding, we encourage everyone to review the 2019-2025 Urban Forest Strategy here.
Share your thoughts
The Town is calling for input from all community members from 15 April to 13 May 2025. To share your thoughts, fill out our quick online survey below or get in touch with us directly at admin@vicpark.wa.gov.au or 9311 8111.
