Echo News 11 September 2025 #

Guanhao Cheng

Hazelmere trees cleared #

Trillion Trees Australia says the trees cleared opposite their premises happened almost without announcement, distressing volunteers who knew them since they were saplings.

In Hazelmere, while one organisation rallied volunteers to conserve and regenerate trees, directly across the road, trees were being cleared without fanfare.

Environmental restoration non-profit Trillion Trees’ Hazelmere nursery once sat across from a dense collection of trees populating 4.5ha of land on Stirling Crescent.

The trees once supporting the area’s wildlife food and shelter needs now lie in splintered heaps.

Trillion Trees Australia ecological restoration manager Doug Laurie said it was a sad day for the environmental protection community for a large-scale loss of trees that happened almost without announcement.

“The Trillion Trees community is mourning the loss of these trees, and our volunteers are quite distressed by the total land clearance which has happened so rapidly,” he said.

“Every week over 100 passionate volunteers join us to grow native trees and plants in our community nursery which sits directly opposite this land, so they feel this loss heavily.

“Some have known these trees from saplings and over decades have watched them fruit, flower and grow.

“Established corridors of native vegetation are vital for maintaining healthy ecosystems within our suburbs, providing habitat for wildlife, cooling our city and creating a green sanctuary for everyone to enjoy.

“In a warming climate with declining rainfall, the liveability of our suburbs is at risk as we already have the lowest tree canopy coverage of any Australian capital city.”

Mr Laurie said the site had been used by endangered cockatoos and provided a link to corridors to allow safe travel for the birds.

“We regularly witnessed a large flock of endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoos flying between our site and the cleared land, feeding on the biodiverse stretch of trees including marri, eucalyptus caesia and she-oak, which once stood there,” he said.

“Since the trees were felled, precious Forest red-tailed black cockatoos have continued to attempt to feed from the dying trees.

“Linking corridors of native vegetation throughout our suburbs is critical to the ongoing survival of all our native flora and fauna, like our black cockatoos who rely on them for food, roosting places and safe flying routes.”

Current information out on the cleared area indicates the affected area is part of the proposed Hazelmere special use area 16 structure plan which may be accessed on Swan Engage.

Echo News asked environmental scientist Simon Cherriman about the impacts of land clearing and its impact levels across ecological communities.

“Certainly, Australia wide, land clearing has been a crisis and it’s been escalating in the last 50 years,” he said.

“We’re seeing these pieces of vegetation removed from the landscape, small pieces, but really, really frequently.

“So the cumulative impact is definitely pointing to this crisis where we’re losing so much habitat.”

But Mr Cherriman said in the last decade or two, he feels there has been a big increase in what private landowners can do on their own land.

“I’ve seen an enormous increase in people’s interest in doing things on their own private land,” he said.

“The importance of people doing things on their private land, like planting trees, making wildlife gardens, creating wildlife habitat is now stronger than ever because we are losing the capacity to have influence in parts of our public lands, like shire managed land and national parks.”