Protected tress - worrying facts

 Author: Dr Amy Hall

Tree protection in Jersey is non-existent.  Even the protected trees are not protected.  Some worrying facts below:

1) There have been 30 applications to fell protected trees since 2008.

2) NONE of these 30 applications were refused

3) From these applications ~100 protected trees were felled

4) Looking just at La Providence, St Lawrence - where trees were protected following a public campaign (a) 10 out of the 30 applications to fell a tree since 2008 (33%) was at this one location   (b) more than 25% of all trees listed on the site have gone

5) No one has ever been fined for an act against a protected tree

6) It is not an automatic requirement to plant a new tree when a protected tree is felled

7) Where a replacement tree has been included as part of the approval 'officers may visit a site to ensure a tree has been replaced due to a conditioned approval, the department does not maintain a record of which sites have been visited' (FOI Protected trees 2016)

8) Other trees on the Island are less protected than these 'legally protected trees' - we are losing 'normal trees' at a rate of several thousand a year

9) Building sites continue to be clear-felled prior to planning permission being granted.

10) Planting 'whips', often in the wrong places, without planning permission, and without appropriate ecological surveys at the planting sites is not going to mitigate for the loss of large majestic trees

IT IS TIME for true tree protection in Jersey