Perth’s summer was one of the hottest on record and the city’s lack of tree canopy isn’t helping.

Fewer trees can lead to an increase in temperature, especially in new residential areas.

According to Perth-based working group, The Power of Trees Group, tree canopies can lower temperatures in parts of Perth by more than 10 degrees.

Perth’s tree canopy is the lowest in the country, with only 16 per cent coverage as of 2020.

The State Government has introduced more than $500,000 of funding to help local governments ‘greenify’ suburbs.

The Western Australian Tree Canopy Advocates has been a leading organisation for raising awareness of Perth’s tree canopy issue.

The chairman of WATCA Nick Cook says they need more help.

“Both local and state governments need to do more heavy lifting,” he says.

“This was half a million dollar round of funding, it needs to be ten-fold.”

The WATCA has more than 26 advocacy groups based in Perth with more than 20,000 community members part of the cause.

Mr Cooks says the benefits of tree canopies include lowering temperatures in suburbs and improving physical and mental health.

He says new housing developments are often built without adequate tree canopy coverage, which leads to many problems.

The recent outbreak of the shot-hole borer in areas including Kings and Hyde Park has led to many trees being cut down.

The deputy chairman of The Western Australian Horticultural Council Neil Boyd says Perth is losing more and more trees every day.

“Those trees have been there for hundreds of years,” he says.

“It’s not just a matter of cutting them down, it’s watching diseases [damage trees] … we’re losing most of the trees in Hyde Park.”

Nick Cook says the Shot-hole borer is decimating many important shading trees in Perth.

“80 per cent of the Perth metropolitan area is now in quarantine and 2,500 trees have been removed already.”

Cook says the community and governments must protect Perth’s tree canopies.

“The importance of retaining the canopy we have now is critical to the future amenity of Perth.”