20 AUGUST 2019 FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK
NEWS
LATEST UPDATE FROM THE GLOBAL FORESTRY INDUSTRY
SPARE a thought for the forestry and timber
processing sector, says Amanda Bryan.
The head of the Scottish School of
Forestry at Inverness College UHI recently
wrote in the Press and Journal’s Leader
magazine that this “hidden gem” of
the country’s economic landscape
is a sector of the future, but an
ageing workforce presents a
unique challenge. She also
raised the question – how do
we encourage people to join the
industry?
Bryan writes: “With the
drive to plant more trees, and
harvest and process more
home-grown timber, comes a
unique challenge. The sector’s
workforce is ageing and it is
estimated around 70 per cent
will need replaced over the next
10 years.
“This skills shortage has been recognised
by the Scottish Government, which
recently brought together a wide range of
stakeholders from the public and private
sector for two Forestry Skills Summits, one
which took place at Inverness College UHI.
In the next month, a report quantifying the
prospective skills and workforce gaps will
be produced by Scottish Forestry and the
Timber Technologies Industry Leadership
Group, which will bring more focus to the
unique challenge ahead.”
The sector offers a wide range of
opportunities for a diverse workforce, Bryan
argues.
With the harvesting sector now being
heavily technology-driven, a high degree of
skill and technical expertise is required,
but there is also a need for practical
outdoor work, technical management,
scientific research and conservation.
Tree growers and breeders, forest
managers, harvesting managers,
ecologists and recreation rangers
are but a few of the varied careers
available. The School of
Forestry’s programmes have
been designed to provide
the opportunity for both
face-to-face and distance
learning and the flexibility
to study part-time and
exit and enter at any
point. It also offers an
apprenticeship route.Diverse
workforce
needed to
plug skills gap
WOODLAND
CREATION
GRANTS UP
FOR GRABS
THE Cairngorms National Park
Authority (CNPA) is offering grants
of up to £3,000 to reduce the cost
of developing woodland creation
proposals.
While the Scottish Forestry Grant
Scheme has been critical to the
success of woodland creation
schemes so far, the costs of preparing
an application can be off-putting to
some, the CNPA said.
David Hetherington, Woodland
Advisor at the CNPA, explained:
“With the support of partners –
Scottish Forestry, Scottish Natural
Heritage and Woodland Trust
Scotland – we have set up a new
Woodland Challenge Fund with a very
straightforward application process.
The fund will contribute up to £3,
per scheme towards costs incurred
in the development of a woodland
creation application to the Scottish
Forestry Grant Scheme including
gathering information, surveys and
discussing proposals as part of ‘due
diligence’. We hope the Woodland
Challenge Fund grants will help more
landowners, crofters and tenant
farmers to expand native woodland
in the National Park, either through
natural regeneration or by planting.”
All applications will be judged
according to whether the proposed
scheme helps to deliver one or more
of the strategic objectives of the
Cairngorms National Park Forest
Strategy. These include whether it
will restore lost or vulnerable forest
ecosystems or encourage the natural
regeneration of native forests.
Applications may be made at any
time until 29 February 2020, but
funding is limited.CHALLENGE ISSUED TO SOLVE
WASTED SEED PROBLEM
MEETING the challenges of growing more
young trees from seed will significantly
strengthen Scotland’s contribution to tackling
the climate emergency. That’s the premise
behind a new Scottish Government innovation
challenge offering research and development
funding for ideas to improve the country’s
existing seed stock.
The challenge, set out by Forestry and
Land Scotland (FLS), is open to individuals,
businesses, universities and stakeholders.
Doug Knox, for FLS, said: “The demand for young trees in Scotland in 2019 was
more than double what it was a decade ago. We will have to double it again within
five years if we are to meet our climate change action plan commitments. And the
Committee on Climate Change has called for the amount of tree planting to increase
even further. But growing trees is actually a tricky business, especially in the early
stages. Most tree species used in forestry are ‘masting’ species, producing good seed
crops in certain years with low levels or no seed at all in intervening years.
“As much as two thirds of that available seed can be lost through predation, weed
competition, drought or simply a failure to germinate. That’s a substantial loss of
viable material so finding ways of meeting any or all of those challenges would greatly
improve on the number of saleable tree seedlings that are grown.”
The closing date for applications is 21 August.