Tree protection

Trees, in all forms including hedges and shrubs, can be protected if deemed to “have high amenity value and… make a valuable and important contribution to the local environment”.

Official legislation, Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002, Article 61(1)(a), states “a protected tree may not be cut down, topped, lopped, uprooted, wilfully damaged or destroyed or otherwise altered, harmed or interfered with without the Minister’s consent (Article 61(1)(a)). You can search the protected tree list here.

Trees can also be protected through a condition on a planning permit. In such cases they would not appear on the protected tree list.

If you’d like to see a particular tree (or trees) listed, please email Leah Bliss, Landscape Officer at Government of Jersey, providing a photo of the tree, its location, species details (if known) and why you think it should be protected.

If you think a protected tree is in imminent danger, let us know.

More broadly, we’re lobbying for clear, concise, sensible tree protection laws (adapted from UK) that can be easily understood and would be applied in practice, creating a deterrent for rogue felling and pruning.