WALGA Urban Forest Conference 2025

Key sector event
Conferences
WALGA Urban Forest Conference 2025
Elected members, CEO, Officer, State or Federal Government, Non members
Friday, 14 Feb 2025
9:00AM - 4:00PM
Murdoch University
90 South St, Murdoch WA 6150
Local Government: $190
Non-Local Government: $210
Field Tour and Welcome Drinks: $50
Register Now

About the event

The Urban Forest Conference is Western Australia’s premier urban forest event, bringing together Government, industry and community leaders to discuss ways to provide resilient and equitable urban forests for communities.  Now in its third year, the conference attracted over 350 delegates in 2023, with tickets to next year’s event selling fast. The theme of the conference is Raising Resilience, focusing on the unprecedented challenges our urban forests face due to ongoing loss through development, the impact of climate change and biosecurity threats. 

The conference features a keynote address by Freya Thomas, Senior Urban Forester at the City of Melbourne, where delegates will be inspired by the City’s bold approach to strategic planning of the urban forest in Melbourne in the face of increasing urban density.

We welcome highly-regarded Senior Urban Planner, City of Melbourne - Freya Thomas, to the stage as our Keynote Speaker.

Freya’s focus is undertaking the strategic planning of the urban forest in Melbourne; a project guided by the Urban Forest Strategy (2012) with implementation informed by the Urban Forest Precinct Plans (under renewal) and supported by the Tree Policy (2021).

The objective of this address will be to critically reflect on the progress achieved and challenges which have arisen, such as increases in urban density. Freya will share learnings we can take away regarding urban forest management and its future. 

Event speakers

Dr Freya Thomas
Dr Freya Thomas
Senior Urban Planner, City of Melbourne
Dr Freya Thomas is a Senior Urban Forester at The City of Melbourne who undertakes strategic planning for the urban forest. She has previously been titled ‘Research Fellow’ and ‘Scientist’ but likes being known as a quantitative plant ecologist interested in environmental decision making.
Sabrina Hahn
Sabrina Hahn
Horticulturalist
Sabrina has been involved in the horticultural industry in WA for over 35 years. Her knowledge of flora and her science-based background in soil science, botany, and natural systems is reflected in her ability to design more sustainable landscapes suited for soil type, climate, and topography.
Dr Kelsie Prabawa-Sear
Dr Kelsie Prabawa-Sear
CEO, Nature Play WA
Kelsie has had the joy of a varied and rich working and academic experience in both Australia and Indonesia prior to joining Nature Play WA, having worked in State government, consulting, and not-for-profit organisations, all with a focus on children, education, and environment.

Key takeaways

Walk away from UFC 2025 with tools and insights on how to engage with communities to drive the success of your own local government’s urban development with access to these invaluable insights from an experienced astute peer.

The conference includes eight concurrent sessions throughout the day for delegates to attend:

  • Tree retention through the planning system
  • Designing resilient developments
  • Future proofing species selection
  • Cooling urban spaces
  • Citizen activation 
  • Accessing blue to support green
  • Tree care and management
  • Equity in urban greening

For the first time, the Conference will offer a selection of Field Tours on Thursday, 13 February. In a partnership with the Perth Inner City Group, member Local Governments will lead site visits that explore how to optimise tree growth in highly urbanised environments, retain trees in public realm redevelopment and enable community leadership of greening projects.

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