WA Tree Festival

The City of Joondalup, other local governments and the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) will present the WA Tree Festival to our community for its third consecutive year from Saturday 12 April-Saturday 10 May 2025.

WA Tree Festival brings us all together to share the value of trees and encourages us to protect and improve our urban tree canopy across the Perth metropolitan area. 

Trees provide vital habitat for wildlife, improve our streetscapes and increase our property values, and can improve our physical and mental health and wellbeing. Trees also absorb pollutants, keep us cool by combating the urban heat island effect, provide shade, reduce water runoff and help us to conserve energy.

Join us for a month-long celebration of trees, biodiversity, wildlife and the beautiful outdoors!

What’s on

Walks, workshops and wildlife

Bat box building
Thursday 17 April 2025, 6pm – 7.30pm
Joondalup Library
Tickets $5

Discover the weird and wonderful nighttime world of microbats! Celebrate International Bat Appreciation Day by joining zoologist Maria Veleva from Eco Action WA in this special evening of native bat education and woodworking fun. Learn about what we can do in our communities and backyards to support native wildlife, including microbats. Hear about the nocturnal lifestyle of bats, their typical habitat and natural enemies, how echolocation calls work, rescue and rehabilitation methods, and why they are important to our local ecosystem. Then get hands-on as you are guided to build bat boxes and help to conserve our local microbat population. Bookings essential, places are limited.

Book now

Butterfly jewellery workshop
Tuesday 22 April 2025, 3.30pm – 5.30pm 
Youth Truck – Beldon Park
Free

Come and join Japanese artist Nami Osaki from Nami's Art Room to learn how to design and make an original butterfly jewellery piece! These precious and stunning wings can become your lifetime favourite piece of jewellery or make a very special gift for someone you love. For ages 11-18 years. Bookings essential, open online Tuesday 1 April.

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Discover Djeran 
Wednesday 23 April 2025, 10am – 12pm
Neil Hawkins Park, Joondalup
Tickets $5

Djeran is the Noongar name for the April and May season; a time when the bush is lush and green with the arrival of cooler weather. It is traditionally a time to prepare for the heavy rains to come, when Noongar people would move inland to the freshwater lakes on Mooro Boodjar (Joondalup country). Banksias are beginning to bloom, while young Yaarkan (turtles) have now grown into adulthood. Discover the wonders of Djeran on an inspiring and educational walk through the trees around Lake Joondalup, led by Olman Walley from Boorloo Aboriginal Cultural Experiences. Escape the bustle of urban living and go on a journey through nature to find some of our largest local trees. Learn about their uses and significance to Noongar people and hear the stories of their connection to other elements of the landscape. Bookings essential, places are limited.

Book now

Snake awareness
Wednesday 30 April 2025, 6pm – 7.30pm
Whitford Library
Tickets $5 

Snakes are vital to our local ecosystem, and a sign of healthy biodiversity, as they help to control vermin and reduce the need for pesticides. Learn more about our scaley friends by joining Marcus Cosentino from Slithers and Slides in this interactive, entertaining and educational reptile workshop. Come along to gain a practical understanding of how to calmly and effectively manage your encounters with snakes, including how to identify and stay safe around local reptile species within the City of Joondalup area. Live snakes will be incorporated into the session to reinforce learning, with a safe demonstration showcasing the behaviour of venomous snakes. Suitable for ages 12 and over. Children must be supervised by a parent or guardian. Bookings essential, places are limited.

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PSHB information session
Saturday 3 May 2025, 10am – 12pm
Woodvale Library
Free 

Polyphagous shot-hole borer (PSHB) is a small, wood-boring beetle native to Southeast Asia that is a very big concern for Western Australia. It excavates tunnels known as galleries into the trunks, stems and branches of trees, introducing a Fusarium fungus into these galleries. We have already seen significant urban canopy coverage loss across Perth. It also poses a potential threat to our agricultural and horticultural industries. Come along to hear from guest speaker Courtney Butterworth, Stakeholder and Community Engagement Officer from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). Learn more about PSHB, its biology and movements, what DPIRD are doing to help control the spread including quarantine restrictions, how to identify this pest and report suspected tree damage in your neighbourhood. Help us to save our urban tree canopy for the future! 

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Composting, worm farms and Bokashi
Saturday 10 May 2025, 9am – 12pm
MacNaughton Park Clubroom, Kinross
Free

Celebrate International Composting Awareness week with the wonderful and very knowledgeable Peg Davies from 'Lessen with Peg' in this interactive workshop. Peg will teach you how to use different types of composting bins, set up and run a successful worm farm and troubleshoot some common ‘problems’. Peg will also introduce the bokashi bin – what it is and what is involved in maintaining a bokashi bin. You could even win a worm farm on the day! 

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Discovery Outbound - Kaarakin Conservation Centre - SOLD OUT
Wednesday 14 May 2025, 9.15am – 2.30pm
Pick up and drop off at Whitford Library
Tickets from $15

Learn about the amazing black cockatoos and other rescued wildlife at the Kaarakin Cockatoo Conservation Centre in the Perth hills near Roleystone. Take a guided walk through beautiful bushland and get the chance to meet the birds. On the way home, grab yourself light refreshments and a photo at the beautiful Raeburn Orchard where the persimmons will be finishing up their autumnal change.

Firewise gardening
Saturday 17 May 2025, 10am – 12pm
Joondalup Library
Tickets $10

Do you want to create a safer and more sustainable property that is climate resilient while saving you water and supporting native flora and fauna? Then come along to this educational workshop to be inspired by Chris Ferreira from The Forever Project. Part presentation, part demonstration, this activity will include information on how to reduce possible fire loads in your neighbourhood by creating a firewise garden in your verge or backyard. Learn and be empowered by a range of fire-safe landscaping practices that you can easily adopt. Unearth strategies and techniques to protect your home from an ember attack, develop localised planting plans, interact with firewise and waterwise plant species, discover recommended mulch types, and much more. Bookings essential, places are limited. 

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Library events program

Nature Wands
Monday 14 April 2025, 10am – 11am
Whitford Library
$5 per child

Join the Freedom Fairies for a morning of stories and games celebrating the magic of trees and nature. Using sticks, leaves, nuts and clay create a nature wand to make magic in your own garden. Suitable for ages 5 - 8 years. Bookings essential, open online Monday 31 March.

Book now

Plants and Pots
Wednesday 23 April 2025, 2pm – 3pm
Joondalup Library
$5 per child

Celebrate the Tree Festival by planting a special seedling and decorating your own pot. Learn how to care for the seedling with the Freedom Fairies and enjoy an afternoon of fun games and nature stories. Suitable for ages 5 – 10 years. Bookings essential, open online Monday 31 March.

Book now

Story Time
Monday 28 April – Saturday 3 May 2025, 10am
City of Joondalup Libraries
Free

Children will love the stories, songs and activities about trees and nature in this special themed week of our regular Story Time sessions. Suitable for ages 2 – 5. No cost, no bookings required.