Justice Minister Naomi Long and Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir today visited a unique tree nursery located within the walls of Magilligan Prison. The nursery is a key part of the ‘Justice for Woodlands’ project, an environmental scheme focused on protecting and developing new native Irish woodland.

Capable of producing up to 70,000 trees annually, the nursery is managed by prisoners and cultivates a variety of native species, including Holly, Guilder-rose, Hazel, Crab-apple, Willow, Bird-cherry, and Wild-cherry trees.

The ‘Justice for Woodlands’ project is a collaborative effort involving Magilligan Prison, the Binevenagh Landscape Partnership Scheme, the Woodland Trust, and the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust. It was established in 2022 following a £54,190 award from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

During their visit, Ministers Long and Muir spoke with both staff and prisoners involved in the project. Justice Minister Naomi Long highlighted the project's dual benefits: "This project will build on ecological and climate resilience by providing native trees for the creation of new woodland or expanding existing woodland. A significant element of the tree planting is also connecting people with nature. Prisoners are learning new skills and through educational opportunities, external training on tree nursery maintenance and development, they are growing trees for communities against which they have offended."

Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir emphasised the importance of tree planting for environmental goals: "Additional tree and woodland planting will be essential to enable us to mitigate against climate change and to deliver nature recovery. I am delighted with the progress that this project has achieved since the initial funding from my Department. Many of the native trees grown by the prisoners and staff at Magilligan will be planted in woodland expansion projects across Northern Ireland to create a long-lasting legacy from which our communities will benefit. It is also good to see trees being grown from local seeds and cuttings. Planting locally grown trees reduces the need for us to import trees and lowers the risk of bringing diseases into local populations."

Aisling Gribbin from the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust underscored the project's significance on a national scale. "The Magilligan Tree Nursery is the first large scale nursery of its kind in Northern Ireland and only the second in Ireland which does not rely on European imported stock. The prisoners are integral to a lot of the seed collection, processing and managing the trees in the nursery, and they also play a part in the planting of the new trees in the local community."