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Money grows on trees

Staff ReporterSouthern Gazette

According to the recently adopted Urban Forest Strategy, this means bolstering green growth by 161,800sq m.

The strategy was motivated by concerns the city’s canopy had decreased ‘considerably’ over the past decade and state targets for residential infill was likely to cause further decline.

City of Belmont Mayor Phil Marks said that the city would now develop a detailed plan.

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The plan could include building awareness about the value of green infrastructure, tree planting, and how resources to implement the strategy could be secured.

‘One of the important functions of the urban forest is to provide shade and cooling,’ Cr Marks said.

Increased canopy coverage throughout the city will minimise the urban heat island effect and improve thermal comfort at street level,.

‘While the management of an urban forest is often considered a local government responsibility it extends well beyond that; we all have a role to play.’

A study last year showed that when Perth Airport was excluded, 11.44 per cent of the city was considered to be ‘urban forest’ which occurs on private land, parks and road reserves. This was down from 12.05 per cent in 2001.

The majority of urban forest exists in areas not zoned under the city’s planning scheme” for example road reserves, the river foreshore and some areas classified under the Perth Metropolitan Region Scheme.

In the aerial imagery mapping, the largely industrial suburb of Kewdale had the least amount of canopy coverage for its area, while Ascot and Cloverdale were considered ‘greener’ suburbs.