{"id":23425,"date":"2025-07-26T11:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T11:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/23425\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T11:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T11:10:09","slug":"fund-launched-to-help-residents-replace-trees-lost-to-shot-hole-borer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/23425\/","title":{"rendered":"Fund launched to help residents replace trees lost to shot-hole borer"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than $7 million will be spent by the WA Government to repay residents who lose trees due to the invasive polyphagous shot-hole borer.<\/p>\n

Residents who have a tree removed from their garden under the authorisation of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development due to the borer can now claim $150 back.<\/p>\n

The State Government recently announced it was moving from an eradication goal to management of the invasive insect, which has led to thousands of trees being axed since the beetle was first detected in August 2021.<\/p>\n

Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn said the program could help boost Perth\u2019s tree canopy.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have lost trees of all sorts, they\u2019ll be able to buy a tree of their choice and the kind of tree that they want to plant,\u201d he said on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really great opportunity for us to increase the canopy across the whole state, … to increase what is a wonderful part of our community, which is the amenity and the biological diversity that trees provide to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EnvironmentCamera IconEnvironment Minister Matthew Swinbourn announced the two programs on Saturday morning. Credit: Danella Bevis\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Also announced was the launch of the Treebate program, which will see up to 10,000 residents a year able to claim a cash rebate of $150 for buying a native tree.<\/p>\n

The $6.9 million, four-year program was announced as an election commitment and is aimed at increasing Perth\u2019s tree canopy coverage, currently the lowest out of the country\u2019s capital cities.<\/p>\n

The $150 rebate would cover a native plant with a root container of 25L to 45L, which would grow to up to 1.5m tall.<\/p>\n

Mr Swinbourn said the project was designed to see long-term benefits.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe polyphagous shot-hole borer has been wreaking havoc, forcing the mass cutting of some of the city\u2019s favourite canopies. Credit: Pia Scanlon\/TheWest<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best time to plant a tree was probably 20 years ago and the second best time to plant trees is today and that\u2019s really what this is about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thinking about 10, 20, years from now and the benefit that will happen and tree planting is a long-term project and often people who plant trees don\u2019t see the full benefit of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both funds will launch on July 28 and can be claimed through the ServiceWA app or via the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than $7 million will be spent by the WA Government to repay residents who lose trees due…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,75,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-23425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}