About the job
Never has there been a more important time for trees and forests to help tackle the climate emergency and provide a much-needed sanctuary for people and wildlife. Our Prime Minister and our government are committed to creating 30,000 hectares of woodland a year across the UK by the end of this Parliament. This acceleration in current planting rates in England will contribute to meeting the net-zero by 2050 ambitions, and to government’s wider environmental targets. This was supported by the announcement at the 11 March budget of £640m for a new Nature for Climate Fund ‘to support natural habitats like woodland and peat’.
The Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Forestry Commission have set up a joint tree planting programme for England to support the forestry sector, landowners and communities in the delivery of these ambitions.
Forestry Commission will lead the delivery of the following parts of the tree planting programme:
- Developing sector capacity
- Woodland creation on public land
- Woodland creation on private land
- Engagement
Job description
The Woodland Officer role can be seen as the ‘face’ of the Forestry Commission to landowners, managers and stakeholders. Each Woodland Officer has their own geographic area of primary responsibility, enabling them to develop a strategic view of the local landscape, a network of local stakeholders and understanding of the challenges and opportunities.
In your ‘patch’, you will be at the forefront of delivering the Forestry Commission’s incentives and regulations, and able to provide advice and support to the private forestry sector in addition to Local Authorities and Defra colleagues. Internal team working is also integral in the Woodland Officer role, for example across the Area Team (e.g. assisting others in ‘alleged unlicensed felling’ investigations) and the wider Forestry Commission (e.g. opportunity for review of national guidance and procedure). Through both, you will have the ability to assist the Forestry Commission build strong working relationships to help create and manage diverse, resilient multi-purpose woodlands.
