The need for upskilling in forest science and conservation management sectors

Carpenter, Angus ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0262-9895 (2025) The need for upskilling in forest science and conservation management sectors. Countryside Jobs Service website .

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Abstract

Online article published on the features section of the Countryside Jobs Service website.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution are increasingly acknowledged as a triple crisis threatening lives and livelihoods globally. As we continue to inflict unsustainable demands on our planet, causing extreme pressures on global processes and resources, the need to provide solutions, alternatives and remedial action also increases. Yet who will deliver these, and how will we cultivate the skilled professionals required? These concerns are especially pressing for the UK, as one of the world's most nature-depleted countries, globally in the bottom 10%, as such, the UK government has implemented strategies to arrest and reverse these trends. Launching the UK’s 25 year Environment Plan, resulted in new policies and strategies: Countryside Stewardship, Woodland Creation schemes and Carbon Code, etc.. New policies mean new targets, with continued emphasis on biodiversity recovery, tree-planting and carbon management as we strive to improve and safeguard the environment, to make Britain greener, ecologically richer and cleaner. As our green ambition grows, so must our workforce. Opportunities arise from policy shifts, as we seek to halt species decline, restore and rejuvenate landscapes, plant climate resilient woodlands and enhance habitats, we need conservationists and forest scientists who can successfully operate within this rapidly changing landscape. Individuals who can conduct high quality research to provide evidence-based decision making, project manage and evaluate the impacts of projects as well as reporting these findings appropriately, etc. The knowledge and skills required are greater than can be acquired by experiential learning whilst on the job. Our master programmes seek to provide individuals with the knowledge, skills and competencies to allow them to take up such posts and perform at the highest level.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	Countryside Jobs Service website
Publisher:	Countryside Jobs Service
Departments:	Institute of Science and Environment > Forestry and Conservation Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA)
Additional Information:	Angus Carpenter, Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation, University of Cumbria, UK.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2025 14:08
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2025 08:00
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/9146

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