Growing Future Foresters

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By Becky Wilkinson, RFS Learning & Outreach Manager

It is widely acknowledged that as the Forestry and Arb sectors continue to grow, that we are facing challenges finding people with the right skills and experience to fill these vacancies. But why is this? Is it just that people aren’t interested in working with trees or are there a much wider range of issues at play?

Advice for young people

If you’re reading this as a young person trying to get your first job, our number one piece of advice is always – get a driving licence. We meet so many young people who would be a real asset to our sector but who are currently not getting jobs because they can’t drive. The reality of needing to get to varied locations by 7.30 – 8am, frequently in isolated rural communities means that public transport is rarely an option. And although we do know some people that have made it work on a bike, you can’t safely transport a chainsaw on a bike and you certainly can’t tow a chipper with it! Even if you have a family member who will commit to dropping you off at work each day, many jobs will require you to be able to drive company vehicles once at work.

Additionally, find pathways that suit where you are in life and your current circumstances. That may mean leaving your current job to take on an apprenticeship or go to university full time but there are also ways to learn while staying in your current job. Distance learning courses at Level 2 provide a good foundation knowledge of either forestry or arboriculture and can be studied at your own pace at a relatively low cost. For those wanting to enter Forestry at a management level, the distance learning courses from Bangor University are highly respected and can be studied flexibly alongside full time employment.

What can the industry do?

Applications for our Forestry Roots traineeships increase every year, with over 200 applications this year for 10 traineeships. And a similar level of interest has been seen in the new Professional Forester Apprenticeship at the University of Cumbria. What do both of these schemes have in common? They generally cater for young people aged 21 and above who already have qualifications in other fields and are looking to make a career change into forestry or arboriculture. With both of these schemes heavily oversubscribed, it is clear that we need more, and more varied pathways where young people can gain the experience and qualifications needed to gain that first job.

The RFS Forestry and Arboriculture Careers Advice service receives regular enquiries from young people who would like to enter the sector but can’t find a suitable course near to them. With the previous Government’s policy of replacing technical qualifications with the new T Levels, there is a decline in the number of places where a young person leaving school can study forestry. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to try to improve this situation but for now, the best option for young people wanting to take a practical route into the sector is an apprenticeship. If you’re an employer that hasn’t ever taken on apprentices, get in touch with your nearest apprenticeship provider and find out what it involves and what support is available. If you’re a young person considering an apprenticeship, reach out to a few different colleges and find out what they offer. The structure of courses varies between colleges and you might be surprised at the distance you can be from a College and still learn through them.

A significant number of people, myself included, come to forestry or arboriculture as career changers. We could make a significant impact on the number of people with the skills needed for our sector by increasing the number of people who choose this pathway from a young age and so chose education options with this in mind. Our sector needs to be more visible within education, with all young people growing up knowing that trees need professionals to care for them in the same way that a farmer tends their crops or a conservationist manages a nature reserve. RFS Teaching Trees, our Careers Roadshow and the Junior Forester Award are three ways that we are addressing this but we cannot be everywhere. Foresters and Arborists giving talks to the schools in their community or inviting children to visit them out in the woods can create a lasting impression which sets children on the pathway rather than coming to the sector later in life.

Organisations which rely heavily upon volunteer labour might also want to consider whether their organisation provides pathways on from volunteering into paid work. We regularly speak to young people who have a few tickets, a driving licence, some qualifications and a year’s volunteering on their CV but who still cannot find a job because so many of the jobs advertised are at supervisor level rather than for new entrants. Rather than a general statement of ‘volunteering experience helps people get jobs’, think about whether the specific experience that they are gaining is making them more employable. If your organisation doesn’t rely on volunteers but has always made volunteering experience a criteria for entry level positions, consider how your recruitment practices might be adapted. Although volunteering was valuable for many of us in our forties and older, the current cost of living means that it is far more difficult to do a sustained period of volunteering than it was 20 years ago.

The climate emergency and Government tree planting targets mean that there has never been more demand for the skills that our sector offers, but also that more young people than ever before want to work with trees and woodlands. As a sector, we can all do more in giving advice to the young people who reach out to us about how to get into the sector and increasing the number of pathways in for them.

Take a look on the website at https://rfs.org.uk/ or email RFS careers to find out more from about careers in forestry.

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