Role Title: Identifying Urban Canopy Changes in the Perth and Peel Regions
Organisation: WA Local Government Association (WALGA)
Internship Period: Summer (November - December)
Location: West Leederville
WALGA leads advocacy, policy and programs to support Local Governments in the retention and growth of urban forests. Perth has amongst the lowest canopy cover (22%) of any capital city in Australia, with ongoing loss resulting from a lack of tree protections during development in infill and greenfield settings. The ‘Where should all the trees go’ (2017) report from the Greener Spaces, Better Places program, determined that 41% of urban Local Governments have experienced a significant loss of canopy. This data is outdated and relies on Nearmap aerial images, rather than the Urban Monitor aerial capture undertaken by the State Government.
The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) published CSIRO’s Urban Monitor products (mesh block, parcel and raster data) for the Perth and Peel regions for 2009, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2024. The 2024 Urban Monitor tree canopy data was released in May 2025, ending a four-year period of uncertainty in canopy cover trends. 2024 canopy cover for individual Local Governments ranges from between 9 – 45%, with some suburbs having as low as 4% canopy cover.
This project will analyse the 2024 Urban Monitor canopy data and compare changes in canopy data between 2020 and 2024 (and earlier where possible) at various geographic scales, to identify key statistics to inform WALGA’s advocacy work. The project will review the proportion of urban canopy cover in different land use categories, such as road verges, parks and residential land.
The WA Local Government Association (WALGA) is working for Local Government in Western Australia. As the peak industry body, WALGA advocates on behalf of WA's 139 Local Governments and negotiates service agreements for the sector. WALGA is not a government department or agency.