WA Loves Nature in Action
By She Plants Cities
Australia’s Strategy for Nature 2024–2030 identifies a key priority for urban areas: Objective 9 – Enrich cities and towns with nature. This objective focuses on integrating ecologically diverse green spaces into urban design and planning, helping to reduce heat stress, lower carbon emissions, support biodiversity, and enhance community wellbeing. It encourages initiatives such as increasing tree canopy, creating greenways, establishing pollinator gardens, and planting rooftop gardens, all while embedding urban ecology into land use and planning.
WA Loves Nature (WALN) is actively delivering on this objective through community-led projects that bring nature into the heart of our cities. By prioritising ecologically rich spaces and engaging local residents, WALN is showing how cities and towns can be transformed into vibrant, biodiverse environments.
Pollinator Garden: Piney Lakes EcoHub, Melville
At Piney Lakes EcoHub, WALN has established a pollinator garden designed to attract native bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. The garden not only enhances local biodiversity but also provides an interactive learning space for the community. Visitors can observe pollinators at work, gaining a deeper understanding of their ecological importance and the role urban residents play in supporting them.
Butterfly Laneway: Samson
The Samson Butterfly Laneway is a vibrant example of WALN’s approach to urban placemaking. By planting nectar-rich native plants and creating a habitat corridor, the laneway supports butterfly populations while adding aesthetic and recreational value to the urban streetscape. The project also encourages residents to engage in residential wildlife gardening, contributing to broader conservation goals.
Bee Scene: West Perth
As part of the West Perth Bee Scene initiative, WALN has installed 6 bee hotels for Perth’s local native bees as well as native wildflowers and native bee themed murals and sculptures. All the elements along the trail have signage that explains what people are seeing and how it supports our wildlife. In spring/djilba 2026 WALN will install a Banksia-themed sculpture at Graham Flats. This installation merges public art with ecological function, supporting native bees and enhancing the urban landscape. Alongside other bee hotels and habitat installations, the project creates a network of biodiversity-friendly spaces, turning everyday city areas into learning environments and thriving ecosystems.
Why This Matters
These projects directly respond to the progress measures outlined in Objective 9 of the Strategy:
- 9A – Number and extent of urban greening initiatives: WALN is increasing the footprint of green spaces through pollinator gardens, butterfly corridors, and tree plantings.
- 9B – Ecologically diverse design and development: Each project prioritises native flora and habitat creation, integrating biodiversity into urban planning.
- 9C – Programs promoting urban nature-based initiatives: WALN engages residents through community planting events, educational signage, and interactive trails, encouraging meaningful participation in landscape-scale conservation.
By embedding biodiversity into everyday urban spaces, WA Loves Nature demonstrates how cities and towns can be enriched with nature, creating healthier, more resilient, and more enjoyable environments for all residents.
