Forestry Jobs Summit: Securing the future of Scotland's Forestry Sector

Scottish Forest & Timber Technologies Industry Leadership Group are hosting an online summit looking at the future of skills in Scotland.

About this Event

Held in partnership with Confor, Scottish Forestry, Forestry and Land Scotland and Skills Development Scotland, the summit will give those joining the chance to hear from a range of voices about the support available as the industry recovers from the impact of Covid-19 and looks to fulfil its future skills needs. Speakers will include:

• Fergus Ewing MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy

• Alan Hampson, Head of Standards Evidence and Expertise, Scottish Forestry

• Chris Brodie, Head of Skills Planning and Sector Development, Skills Development Scotland

• Liz Barron-Majerik, Scotland Director, Lantra

Those joining will also have the chance to ask questions during the summit.

As the sector expands in response to the increase of woodland creation targets to 18,000Ha per year and with the forecast that domestic timber production will rose by more than a third over the next decade, there is an urgent need to attract and train a new workforce to address the growing skills shortage.

Scottish Forestry and Forestry Land Scotland recently committed to double their intake of young people, and the SFTT has been working with key partners to develop a skills programme that will provide support to employers to recruit and train along with a simple funding offer built around the Scottish Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee and the UK Government’s Kickstart Scheme.

Those joining will hear more about all of these opportunities and how they can benefit.