The City of Fremantle has fallen so far behind targets to boost canopy cover that it will need to plant more trees for an extra four years just to meet 80 per cent of its original goal.

However, mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge was at pains to point out there were a number of mitigating factors for the shortfall, including reduced budgets during COVID years, and said the issue had not been ignored.

Fremantle councillors adopted the urban forest plan in 2017, setting out the number of trees the council needed to plant over the next 10 years to meet its ambitious goal of increasing canopy cover from 13 per cent to 20 per cent.

But even after a 2021 decision to revise down its targets by 20 per cent, plantings are still falling further behind.

The council resolved in 2023 to plant just 600 tree

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