We all know the benefits of living in or near green spaces. Plants provide homes for wildlife and protect biodiversity. Green spaces improve air quality and increase rates of physical activity, improving physical and mental health.

As Perth swelters through another hot week, our urban vegetation is particularly significant. It cools down our cities, combating the urban heat-island effect which makes cities several degrees hotter than the surrounding countryside.

In late 2022, a group of Curtin residents concerned about Perth's shrinking urban canopy came together to form the WA Tree Canopy Advocates, which now comprises 24 groups from across WA and almost 20,000 members—all worried about Perth's dwindling tree canopy. Sarah, the founding member of WATCA, recently told me that, between 2011 and 2020, one quarter of Perth's urban canopy was lost, largely through the clearing of private land for development.

Overall canopy cover in Perth is 16 per cent, the lowest of all Australian cities. For context, cities like Barcelona, New York city and Canberra have a canopy cover target of 30 per cent or higher. Metropolitan Perth is one of the only cities in Australia that does not have a tree canopy target.

The most important thing we can do to improve our urban greenery is to protect the trees we already have, but Perth has no blanket protections for large mature trees on private land. But local councils, like Nedlands, in my electorate, are trying to change this by introducing regulations that require landowners to apply for permission to clear trees on private property that are more than eight metres tall.

Last Friday, Sarah and the WA Tree Canopy Advocates were devastated to hear that the WA state government has overruled this regulation, and is instead developing a strategy that will not include any requirement for protection of trees on private land. This is despite the fact 80 per cent of the canopy being lost is on private land.

We absolutely need increased housing density and infill to address housing shortages, but we must not lose the mature canopy and green spaces that make Curtin a beautiful place to live. We must ensure that these decisions are made in the long-term interests of communities, not property developers. It takes one person a few minutes to cut down a tree, but it takes coordinated effort across all levels of government to protect one.

As part of my Curtin's Pathway to Net Zero project, local volunteers discussed the need for consistent regulation between federal, state and local governments to improve urban greening. This year's anticipated reform of the EPBC Act is an opportunity for our national nature laws to better protect biodiversity in our cities. Many in my community are calling for a national framework to protect urban vegetation so councils can sow the seeds and reap the benefits of leafy cities.