Those living in Melbourne's west are just hotter. And a lot of that comes down to the fact that the west has significantly fewer trees than other areas of Melbourne. But the city's western suburbs are set to be getting a bit greener (and we hope, cooler), with 30,000 trees to be planted across the region in the next month.
The state government has invested $5 million to plant trees across Melbourne's western suburbs as part of the More Trees for a Cooler, Greener West initiative. The project allowed councils and public land managers in the west to apply for grants of up to $250,000 to plant both saplings and mature trees in streets, parks, schools and nature trails across six LGAs: Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay, Moonee Valley, Brimbank, Wyndham and Melton.
While the trees will certainly add greenery to these suburbs, they're also expected to help cool them as well. Data from 2018 shows that Melbourne's west had just 5.5 per cent canopy cover (how much of the ground is covered by trees when looking from above) in urban areas, compared to 17.4 per cent in the inner southeast and 25.9 per cent in the east (they don't call it the "leafy east" for nothing). This has contributed to the west experiencing the greatest urban heat island effect – an effect caused by concentrations of infrastructure like roads, buildings and pavements retaining heat and causing urban areas to be warmer than surrounding regions.
In addition to greening and cooling the west, it's hoped the new trees will also help reduce pollution, improve air quality and help tackle climate change.