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Concern at canopy loss – SAS’s Seaward Village

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ArborCarbon’s Managing Director and Chief Scientist, Dr Paul Barber was asked by the Western Suburbs Weekly, to comment and provide data on the canopy cover of the suburb of  Swanbourne, amid fears that the area is losing too much canopy cover.

“CALCULATIONS show that redeveloping the SAS’s Seaward Village in Swanbourne could mean the loss of 25,000sq m of cooling tree canopy, in addition to an estimated 12ha lost in the City of Nedlands recently.

“You’re certainly going to lose tree canopy if you bowl it all over – about that there’s no doubt,” Arbor Carbon director and Murdoch University associate professor Paul Barber said.”

Read the full article 

Perth’s leafy western suburbs are rapidly losing their tree canopy cover.

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Nedlands losing it’s tree cover

ArborCarbon scientists undertook a study over 2 years based on aerial surveys using multi-spectral, high resolution imaging. The results were startling and concerning.

The majority of councils within the ‘leafy western suburbs’ have experienced a loss in canopy cover over the  two-year period.

The study showed that the hottest areas in the western suburbs had little vegetation and an excess of sand. Examples include Campbell Barracks, Mt Claremont, the area south of UWA, immediately west of Shenton bushland, the QEII medical centre and Sir Charles Gardner Hospital – and around Subiaco Square.

Some of the coolest areas are, of course, where there is a body of water like Lakes Claremont and Monger. Other cool areas include suburbs within Subiaco, the Wembley golf complex, and Perry Lakes Reserve.

I am passionate about the need to maintain and foster tree growth in urban areas. Replacement with young trees is not the solution as they could take 50 years to mature before the same shade and cooling benefits are realised.

We need to embrace trees and the benefits they provide, rather than seeing them as a nuisance or being scared that a tree will fail simply because it is a big tree.

The tree loss shown in this study is a major concern as we know that canopy cover is directly linked to the Urban Heat Island Effect. We are compounding the problem by not conserving our canopy and this impacts the health of people in our communities.

To read more please read the full story on WAtoday.

WAtoday