Source : Perth Now news
A popular Claremont park has been restored after five large Moreton Bay fig trees were removed after a serious shot-hole borer beetle outbreak.
Revegetation works were recently completed at Mulder Park by the Town of Claremont’s parks team, who planted a mixture of shrubs, grasses and flowers to replace the fig trees.
The trees were among 77 removed from the Lake Claremont area in 2024 after the invasive polyphagous shot-hole borer infiltrated the area and damaged the trees’ nutrient flow.
Mayor Peter Telford told the Western Suburbs Weekly the Mulder Park revegetation project was one of many taking place across the town as it recovers from the PSHB damage.
“It’s an example of what we’re doing right across the town, and unfortunately it’s an issue that’s not going to be resolved any time soon … we’ll be monitoring it going forward,” he said.
“The new trees will be small, and we will continue to monitor all trees across Claremont because it’s a Claremont-wide program we’re running.”
Mr Telford said the figs were “untreatable” and had to be removed, but it was a last resort.
The town parks team will protect the new vegetation by using drip irrigation to supply water directly to the roots, and clay soil to better absorb nutrients.
The town has also been allocating $20,000 a month since December to monitor, treat and remove trees, with a major focus on pruning and chemically targeting the bug.
“It’s a multi-year program to monitor how we’re going in terms of curtailing the bug, alongside regular urban infill … We planted more than 100 street trees in the 2026 planting season,” Mr Telford said.
It is part of a $240,000-a-year tree management plan, adopted in the town’s 2026-27 budget.
Mr Telford said he believes this is the “leading amount” amongst western suburbs councils to deal with the PSHB issue.
“It’s a terrible, terrible situation; it just wasn’t feasible from a social liveability point of view for the town not to expend its own funds,” he said.
“The State handed it over to local governments to monitor, maintain and deal with, and we’re fortunately in a position to expend those monies to deal with it.”
The town also received support from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to restore more trees and plant understory native tube stock.
Neighbouring local council Cottesloe also received a $120,000 grant from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development to monitor PSHB spread and revegetate accordingly. The town planted 129 trees in this year’s planting season.
Last year, more than 100 trees were removed across Cottesloe due to PSHB. A town spokesperson confirmed another five trees on Alexandra Avenue have “likely” been affected, but the iconic Norfolk Island Pine is not considered a susceptible tree species.
The City of Nedlands received funding through DWER’s WA tree recovery program to replace 95 trees lost to PSHB. About 680 trees were planted across the city in the 2026 planting season, and further planting projects will take place over 2027 and 2028.
Nedlands also received DPIRD grant funding to manage long-term impacts and aid urban forest recovery.
