Twenty years later, with a degree and ongoing undergraduate research, Martin is responsible for caring for the 14,000 trees at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. With trees at the forefront of the UK’s zero-sum strategy by 2050, Martin and others like him are at the forefront of the fight to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to changing conditions. But the army of tree experts that needed to fulfill the government’s promise to increase tree planting to 30,000 hectares a year (90-120 meters of trees) by the end of 2024 is nowhere to be seen. Lack of skills in arboriculture and forestry are at critical levels and a new generation is not recruiting to take the baton from an aging workforce. A report by the Institute of Chartered Foresters says the industry needs to hire 70% more people to meet the planting targets set by the government and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (IPCC) “We need to do a big campaign using social media, public billboards, television, to start hiring to make up for this skills shortage,” Martin said. “It has to come from industry, but it also has to be addressed in education, when children start to choose which subjects they are interested in. We need to change the culture of education, which is very important to only go to land-based industries if you are fat – which is not the case at all. “Everyone has to be involved.” Within the industry there is a degree of soul search to understand why young people do not come into the profession. The outdated stereotypes of male “lumberjacks” need to be addressed, according to John Healey, a professor of forestry at Bangor University, as well as issues of diversity. “There is a shortage of young men who want to take up the profession, but this is even more pronounced among young women.” It was in Bangor that in 1916 Mary Sutherland became the first woman in the world to graduate with a degree in forestry, she points out, which makes the university even more aware of the need to bring women. “It has been a distinguished career for many women ever since, but the profession clearly still suffers from the kind of macho image of a lumberjack cutting down trees, while dealing with an environmental ethos of forest expansion, biodiversity and greenery. We spend a lot of time to communicate it, but it is not adequately recorded “. The Committee on Climate Change, a government advisory body, has set a target of 30,000 hectares per year of forests and forest areas by 2024 in its net zero report. The CCC says increasing forest cover to “at least 17% of the UK’s area”, along with improved forest management, will commit an additional 14 million tonnes of CO2 each year. But the workforce for growing, planting and caring for these trees is insufficient in both forestry and arboriculture, which includes caring for trees ranging from urban tree care to operating nurseries to produce new ones. saplings. John Parker, CEO of the Arboriculture Association, said: “The problem is that people do not know what arboriculture is. Students do not say “when I grow up I want to become an arborist”. We have to change that. “ He said the government must address labor shortages. “Trees are so high on the political agenda right now, but if we want to have all these wonderful trees do all these wonderful things for us, we have to have tree professionals working on them. It does not make sense to plant millions and millions of trees if you are not going to take care of them. “We also have to produce the trees in the first place. We do not have enough trees available to meet the planting promises made. It takes time to produce trees the size we need, it has to start years before they are needed. “ Many of the next generation of tree specialists will come from places like Myerscough College in Lancashire, which offers institutions as well as undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in arboriculture, tree management and urban forestry. But the number of students remains stable, with no signs of the increases that will be required to fill the skills gap. Alex McKelvie, head of green and creative studies, said: “There is a struggle for young people to get to know the industry and to hire and retain them. Thus, we lack the specialized workforce at a critical time. “ The college is working hard to attract young women to the profession, she said. “There is nothing in this profession that a girl can do but a boy. “In fact, the girls are making amazing tree climbers and the industry is working hard to attract more young women.” The industry does not seek to hire future experts only among the school’s alumni. Healey said there has been a significant increase in mature students joining the Bangor forestry program. “Students are significantly older,” he said. “Some have made other careers – for example, working in the City of London – and want to do something very different,” he said. The attractions of a tree-lined career, Healey believes, are many. “Work really matters,” he said. “It is gratifying to do a job that makes a significant difference in the world in terms of biodiversity crisis and climate change. “Choosing this career means that you are right in the middle of an interesting and exciting challenge. “There are no easy solutions, there is a practical challenge and there is a spiritual impetus to decide how to do it right.”
