Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the trade of saplings oak trees between Great Britain and Northern Ireland in preparation for Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee.

The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 that invites people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.

The QGC is encouraging schools and communities to get involved in planting Jubilee trees. In Northern Ireland, free tree packs for schools and communities are available through the Conservation Volunteers.

Under the current implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, oak trees are among a number of native British tree species that are currently prohibited from moving to Northern Ireland. The Government is in intensive negotiations with the EU to find solutions to the impacts of the Protocol and to sort out these very real issues impacting Northern Ireland.