What we do

Awarding Chartered Status to Professionals in Forestry and Arboriculture

The Institute of Chartered Foresters is the Royal Chartered body for foresters and arboriculturists in the UK. It is the only UK body to offer the Chartered Forester and Chartered Arboriculturist titles.

The Institute regulates standards of entry to the profession; provides support to members; guidance to professionals in other sectors; information to the general public; and educational advice and training to both students and tree professionals seeking to develop their careers in the forestry and arboricultural sector.

The Institute works to foster a greater public awareness and understanding of forestry in order to serve a variety of commercial, recreational, environmental and scientific interests.

ICF Awards

ICF distributes, endorses and sponsors a series of awards throughout the year, to promote education and research and recognise exceptional contributions to both the Institute and the sector.

In this section

“Working towards becoming a Chartered Forester has enabled me to grow my forestry skills with confidence within a nurturing and supportive environment.”
Robert Davies

Latest news

23/11/2023

Our monthly policy and research blog updates you on the latest work at the Institute and how you can get involved. Institute news Woodland Creation Summit In June 2023, a delivery action plan was ann...

16/11/2023

We’re coming to the end of another busy year and the Institute of Chartered Foresters has been as productive as ever in 2023.Take a look at some of our highlights from the past year. Our membership ...

13/11/2023

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has appointed former health secretary Steve Barclay as the new Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). This comes after fo...

10/11/2023

An article published in the Institute's Scientific journal, Forestry, has hit the headlines this week after the results from a recent horizon scanning exercise were published warning of the multiple e...

07/11/2023

The National Association of State Foresters (NASF America) were quick off the mark with the film release of Barbie in July 2023. They produced a suite of forestry careers in a Facebook post less than ...

03/11/2023

Industry leaders from the forestry and land management sectors will meet in Perthshire next month to agree additional actions to boost the creation of new woodlands in Scotland.   The Woodland Creat...

24/10/2023

Our monthly policy and research blog updates you on the latest work at the Institute and how you can get involved. Institute news On 28 September, the Institute's Executive Director Louise Simpson att...

19/10/2023

Early Bird Tickets now available Conference at Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham and Online – 23 & 24 April 2024 How can trees contribute to the quality of place for both people and nature? How can...

05/10/2023

The fifth edition of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) was published on 3 October, following an extensive review process. The aim of the review was to ensure the UKFS remains upto date, balanced in term...

04/10/2023

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is inviting applications for two new members on the Trees and Woodlands Scientific Advisory Group (TaW-SAG), an advisory, Non-Departmenta...

Join Us

Do you want to know more about the Institute of Chartered Foresters?

Join us as a member, subscribe to our monthly newsletter or ask us a question.