Richard Stanford, CEO, Forestry Commission

It has never been a more exciting time to be in forestry. The government’s ambitions to treble tree planting rates in England during this Parliament, backed up by the recently introduced statutory target of 16.5% woodland and tree cover by 2050 under the Environment Act, along with the increasing recognition for the need for timber as well as food security, means the sector is in the spotlight. However, over recent years, the number of skilled foresters entering the profession has decline.

In response to this, and the call to arms by the Institute of Chartered Foresters’ in October 2021 to drastically increase the number of qualified and experienced professional foresters joining the sector, the Forestry Commission (FC) started a journey exploring alternative career pathways. The aim was to afford the opportunity to develop both academic skills and real-life work experiences which traditionally have been hard to secure together. This is the point at which we started to forge our valuable working relationship with the University of Cumbria (UoC), building on the work of the Forestry Industry Trailblazer group with the aim of bringing the Professional Forester degree level apprenticeship from concept to reality. To achieve this we jointly developed, and now successfully deliver, the UK’s first ever degree level forestry apprenticeship.

This is a ground-breaking step for the forestry sector; developing an offer which builds on the academic requirements of becoming a professional Forester, as well as supporting lifelong on the job learning. The UoC have supported the development of the programme at every step, using their extensive experience with higher level apprenticeships, and the technical support of the ‘National School of Forestry’ within the university, to develop an apprenticeship programme to serve the current and future demands of the sector.

The university have been open to the challenges faced in bringing a new apprenticeship scheme on stream, displaying great creativity and adaptability, which has aided the positive working partnership we currently enjoy. This has seen the FC and UoC sharing delivery of the programme activity whilst seeking opportunities to ensure learning is achieved in an informative, inclusive, and engaging way, capitalising on the skills and experiences held within each organisation. All of this has been done at a record pace, going from a draft apprenticeship standard to launch of the programme in just 15 months! To achieve this the University has continually demonstrated their commitment to go the extra mile. The FC values our partnership with the UoC and look forward to a long and fruitful working relationship.