forestry careers

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sirex

Forager
Nov 20, 2008
224
0
bournemouth
anyone here in a forestry / land management type career ? I'm thinking of making a switch to this type of work, and to do so i'll need to retrain i suspect. I do hold a degree, but its in the IT field.

I've been contemplating a home study of a higher diploma in land magement / forestry / environment, but i have two questions...

1) Are these "home-study" diplomas etc worth the paper their written on ? Im not so concerned with the money, but its a lot of effort to invest in something thats worthless.

2) Would this actually be a good way to enter this industry ? - I've seen a few jobs of either arboriculture or related jobs and they seem to be asking for a diploma as a minimum.

Hoping an employer in the area can give me a heads up from their perspective.

failing that, does anyone know of a better place to ask the above questions so i can get some helpful info ?

Thanks,
 

addo

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 8, 2006
2,485
9
Derbyshire
anyone here in a forestry / land management type career ? I'm thinking of making a switch to this type of work, and to do so i'll need to retrain i suspect. I do hold a degree, but its in the IT field.

I've been contemplating a home study of a higher diploma in land magement / forestry / environment, but i have two questions...

1) Are these "home-study" diplomas etc worth the paper their written on ? Im not so concerned with the money, but its a lot of effort to invest in something thats worthless.

2) Would this actually be a good way to enter this industry ? - I've seen a few jobs of either arboriculture or related jobs and they seem to be asking for a diploma as a minimum.

Hoping an employer in the area can give me a heads up from their perspective.

failing that, does anyone know of a better place to ask the above questions so i can get some helpful info ?

Thanks,

Check out your local Agricultural/horticultural college as they run many different types of courses. If theres not one near consider moving onto the campus as you will learn so much more and in a more rounded way by attending college.
Diplomas are a great way to start, for practical and other types of work.

Good luck, I changed my career into arboriculture from engineering and it was the best decition I ever made.
 

Mikey P

Full Member
Nov 22, 2003
2,257
12
52
Glasgow, Scotland
I'm a qualified arborist with ground and climbing units and, at the moment, I do the occasional bit of subbing work if I can (luckily, it's not my main job!).

In the current economic climate, the bottom has dropped out of the market (certainly in our area) - people are not having their trees pruned if it is not required for safety or other such legal reasons. It is an optional expense and many are saving their money.

Utility arboriculturalists (powerline, road-side clearance, etc) will always have work but special tickets are needed and the market is becoming more competitive as overheads are squeezed in order to get contracts.

Forestry cutting is usually not that well paid and, often, as you are paid by the lengths of wood you have to be good (fast but safe) to actually make it worthwhile.

If you want to do forestry management or other work at that level, diplomas and degrees are pretty essential. If you just want to do tree surgery, you'll need a minimum of NPTC Units 30 and 31 for ground work and, for climbing/rescue, Units 38 and 39. These are often done as part of diploma/degree courses - check. However, you can do them separately at a number of training centres around the country. Then, get some experience! Go and work for others, learn the job, and learn the business before you set yourself up.

There is a good website called 'Arbtalk', which has a training forum that's worth looking at. Just Google 'Arbtalk'.

If you go to do a full-time diploma/degree, that would at least give you something to do until the market picks up! Can't tell you anything about the correspondence courses other than that you'll get little practical experience.
 

sirex

Forager
Nov 20, 2008
224
0
bournemouth
full time learning isn't really an option i'm afraid, as i'm in full time employment currently, and cant afford not to be. home learning isn't ideal, but it might be my best bet. I'm hoping a management role would suffer less from any lack of hands on experience.

I don't think a cutting and climbing job would be what i'm after per se, but the forestry management roles definitely spark my interest. It's reassuring to know that the diplomas etc are recognized in the industry to some level - as in IT a diploma wont really get you very far at all.

and yea, money is likely going to be lower than im on now, but it has the advantage of being happy, and thats priceless.
 

Twoflower

Nomad
May 11, 2007
261
0
46
Northants
Check out your local Agricultural/horticultural college as they run many different types of courses. If theres not one near consider moving onto the campus as you will learn so much more and in a more rounded way by attending college.

Worked for me ... Mature resident at college nearing the end of my first year (2 yr National Diploma Countryside Management) and considering going on to uni afterwards.
 

SOAR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 21, 2007
2,031
8
48
cheshire
Arbtalk is a good site to go on have a search round there is more than likely some info on there, if you want to courses from home try myerscough college they do nd and degree courses that you can do online. Good luck with it I wish you all the best.
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
I'm a qualified arborist with ground and climbing units and, at the moment, I do the occasional bit of subbing work if I can (luckily, it's not my main job!).

In the current economic climate, the bottom has dropped out of the market (certainly in our area) - people are not having their trees pruned if it is not required for safety or other such legal reasons. It is an optional expense and many are saving their money.

Utility arboriculturalists (powerline, road-side clearance, etc) will always have work but special tickets are needed and the market is becoming more competitive as overheads are squeezed in order to get contracts.

Forestry cutting is usually not that well paid and, often, as you are paid by the lengths of wood you have to be good (fast but safe) to actually make it worthwhile.

If you want to do forestry management or other work at that level, diplomas and degrees are pretty essential. If you just want to do tree surgery, you'll need a minimum of NPTC Units 30 and 31 for ground work and, for climbing/rescue, Units 38 and 39. These are often done as part of diploma/degree courses - check. However, you can do them separately at a number of training centres around the country. Then, get some experience! Go and work for others, learn the job, and learn the business before you set yourself up.

There is a good website called 'Arbtalk', which has a training forum that's worth looking at. Just Google 'Arbtalk'.

If you go to do a full-time diploma/degree, that would at least give you something to do until the market picks up! Can't tell you anything about the correspondence courses other than that you'll get little practical experience.

Mike's pretty right that the back end has fallen out of the market, cutters in comercial forestry are almost a thing of the past, harvesting machines are pretty much the thing here in the UK. I have a mate who does power line clearance and it's pretty hard work under some pretty serious restrictions. Land management is still pretty well paid, though hard to get into and you kinda need to be pretty posh ( no offence ment here but it's kinda the rule) The home learning is a good idea, though a fair few wont take you seriously if you dont have any practicle experience. A lot of the more practicle foresters like to tell the story of how all the university foresters always fail the front and back of a tree test :D
A huge amount of Ranger jobs are seasonal until you've put in a good few years... depends if you like a steady income / have bills to pay. It's a grate life, just kinda hard to get a foothold in it.
Goatboy.
 

pete79

Forager
Jan 21, 2009
116
9
In a swamp
I have spent most of my career doing forestry/land management/game wardening type jobs. It can be tough to get into; they are desireable jobs (or so the theory is) so employers often don't pay you much as they sometimes feel they are doing you a favour by giving you the job (I often thought about that when I was stood out in p%#sing down rain, with wet feet, smeared in mud and cow excrement, while some dog walker beaked off at me about a fence I'd just built.......yeah, thanks guys, it was really big of you to give me this job!). A lot of employers expect you to put in some voluntary time to get experience before they hire you. It's tough, and frustrating. If you're already set up and have your mortgage sorted, then land management is cool, but if you're not financially set then it can be hard going being a ranger, etc. I struggled hard when I was in the UK. If you go abroad it's a different matter, employers value skilled land managers and pay for them.

The way I got into it was I had a long interest in wildlife and the outdoors. I studied conservation at uni (but a lot of people I know went into their land management careers with degrees in English, IT, all sorts). Get yer tickets.......get qualifications in chainsaw, tractor, pesticides, power boats (I can't remember them all, they're coming out of my ears), and that should set you up well. Book yourself on these sorts of courses at agricultural college.

It's good fun, and it's a good career. If you're into wildlife and the outdoors, then land management work is something you can really get your teeth into and you don't often get bored. But there are points against it. Think hard about it as a career option.
 
L

lostguide

Guest
These all very different jobs being talked about here, find out as much as you can before deciding.

Personally I would not recommend doing forestry management if you want out IT.

I been working in forestry management for over 12 years, 90% of my work is in office working on PC, a normal week consists of GIS mapping, yield tables, felling plans, policies procedures, preparing and writing reports, accounts, H&S, risk assessments, calling IT as software or hardware crashed again etc etc......

When I do get out in the forest (always with my most important forestry tool the laptop) it is normal upload new data onto the harvesters, dealing with personnel issues, broken equipment, problems with access,

Before I qualified (BSc & MSc Forestry) I was volunteer I was taught and get to felled trees with a bow saw, build bridges, footpaths, id trees and plants, built habitats and ponds, spent 90% time outdoors.

Think carefully , I seen many people who enjoyed doing it as a volunteer but when made the switch found the it was just long hours hard work, lots of deadlines and pressure and not much nature or outdoors
 

swyn

Life Member
Nov 24, 2004
1,159
227
Eastwards!
Now there's a very sensible bit of advice from Lostguide....

As a part time Forestor in the private sector I can only echo his words as a similar situation exists here. All be in on a smaller scale.

If you really want to get out into the countryside and work and gain experience, on my honest opinion, volunteering seems to be the only way to gain practical experience as ganging work is no longer available, except within Countryside groups (CCVT?)

From a forestry standpoint there is even a large difference between tree surgery and timber production so a specific focus and skills learned subsequently will put you along a certain path. Only time will give experience to mould these skills together! I use tree climbers to lop and top large Oak trees prior to felling as this saves damaging the valuable timber. I can't use them for harvesting operations as this is mainly mechanical, although they can now help with roadside work with subsequent re training.

I hope this helps.

Swyn.
 

sirex

Forager
Nov 20, 2008
224
0
bournemouth
If you go abroad it's a different matter, employers value skilled land managers and pay for them.

truth be told, this would be my plan, i intend to move to NZ within the next 5 years of so, so if i took this up as my trade it would be over there. - I can use computing experience to aid getting a foothold there, but i dont want to do it forever, you know ? :)
 

pete79

Forager
Jan 21, 2009
116
9
In a swamp
Good plan. Going abroad worked well for me. The pay is good, and there's more opportunities for outdoor/wildland work. Friends of mine who made the move and work in NZ tell me that pest management is the order of the day over there.
 

bayleaf

Tenderfoot
Oct 31, 2008
64
0
gloucestershire
I have spent most of my career doing forestry/land management/game wardening type jobs. It can be tough to get into; they are desireable jobs (or so the theory is) so employers often don't pay you much as they sometimes feel they are doing you a favour by giving you the job (I often thought about that when I was stood out in p%#sing down rain, with wet feet, smeared in mud and cow excrement, while some dog walker beaked off at me about a fence I'd just built.......yeah, thanks guys, it was really big of you to give me this job!). A lot of employers expect you to put in some voluntary time to get experience before they hire you. It's tough, and frustrating. If you're already set up and have your mortgage sorted, then land management is cool, but if you're not financially set then it can be hard going being a ranger, etc. I struggled hard when I was in the UK. If you go abroad it's a different matter, employers value skilled land managers and pay for them.

The way I got into it was I had a long interest in wildlife and the outdoors. I studied conservation at uni (but a lot of people I know went into their land management careers with degrees in English, IT, all sorts). Get yer tickets.......get qualifications in chainsaw, tractor, pesticides, power boats (I can't remember them all, they're coming out of my ears), and that should set you up well. Book yourself on these sorts of courses at agricultural college.

It's good fun, and it's a good career. If you're into wildlife and the outdoors, then land management work is something you can really get your teeth into and you don't often get bored. But there are points against it. Think hard about it as a career option.

Pete's got it about right.I also have a forestry background (commission,MOD,private estate,etc) and it is a hard industry to get a foothold in,and you do need to have a good idea of exactly what it is you would like to do.
If you are going to enter at management level I would advise you to at least get some first hand forest-floor experience first,in fairness to those that you will be in charge of.Woodies are a funny lot,and some understanding of what they endure will go a long way.
Have a word with one of the colleges that have a strong forestry bias.
Had you considered going down the green woodwork/coppicing line instead?
Hope this is of use.Good luck.
 

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