The team behind an innovative prison tree nursery welcomed a visit from Justice Minister Naomi Long and DAERA Minister Andrew Muir for a tour of their unique facility this week.
During a visit to Magilligan Tree Nursery outside Limavady on Thursday 24th April, the Ministers heard about the role of prisoners at the Causeway Coast & Glens Heritage Trust-operated site and why the project’s work to grow native and locally-sourced trees is so vital. They even learned of a surprising Game of Thrones connection to the nursery!
Magilligan tree nursery is delivered in partnership with The Northern Ireland Prison Service and can produce up to 70,000 native UK and Irish trees every year, meaning enough stock and range to satisfy both large orders and individual household buyers.
The work addresses a significant shortage of locally sourced trees for planting in Northern Ireland and reduces the reliance on trees imported from Europe as the nursery only grows trees which are UK and Irish sourced and grown. This reduces the likelihood of bringing disease into the local tree population and ensures the ecological resilience of our native trees.
With ambitions to keep expanding the tree nursery to meet the demands of native tree planting projects across Northern Ireland, the project sees CCGHT staff members work directly with a team of prison inmates who assist in the day-to-day tree nursery operations. In this way, the inmates are integral to the success of the nursery to date.
Plus, thanks to CCGHT’s new-enhanced role in the Dark Hedges site outside Ballymoney, plans are under to sell authenticated Dark Hedges beech whips and saplings. These will be grown from seed collected at the Dark Hedges then grown at Magilligan. As part of the masterplan CCGHT will provide opportunities for volunteering at the site. Any income generated from the Dark Hedges would be used for site maintenance at the hedges as well environmental activities in its local and wider area.
Causeway Coast & Glens Heritage Trust’s Aisling Gribbin – the tree nursery’s co-ordinator – explained why the visit was such a welcome opportunity:
We’re proud of the hard work carried out by CCGHT to promote native species and engage the prisoners in such an important project.
The visit gave another opportunity to raise awareness of the impact and scale of this unique project, and we were delighted to be able to show Minister Muir the outcomes of the DAERA Challenge Fund Competition which was the initial fund used to launch the tree nursery in late 2022.
Of course without the support of the prison service and its inmates, this work wouldn’t be possible. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Magilligan Tree Nursery and that valuable partnership from here. We have big plans to keep moving forward and to keep growing to get more native trees back into our landscape.
Causeway Coast & Glens Heritage Trust, which has operated throughout the Causeway Coast and Glens and Mid and East Antrim Council areas since 2002, also oversees the Antrim Coast & Glens, Binevenagh and Causeway Coast Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty as well as the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site, the Rathlin Island Marine Special Area of Conservation and Dark Hedges Management Forum. Its focus includes support for sustainable tourism, work to promote the special characters of the area including projects to boost biodiversity in important natural heritage areas.
Magilligan tree nursey sells trees both wholesale and to public. Enquiries or orders can be directed to Aisling@ccght.org.
