Government-funded courses are now available, teaching skills such as chainsaw maintenance, coppicing, woodland management, and marketing and selling timber.

The Forestry Training Fund is for people considering a change of career or those who are seeking to build and diversify their skills in forestry. The UK forestry and primary wood processing sectors support 32,000 jobs and contribute £2 billion to the economy every year, whilst secondary wood processing businesses support a further 60,000 jobs.

The government has committed to increasing tree-planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares a year by the end of the Parliament to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The short, practical training courses will be paid for by a £700,000 allocation from the £750m Nature for Climate Fund and will help grow the forestry sector so that we have enough people with the right skills to plan, plant and manage new woodlands.

Examples of courses which are covered by the fund include:

  • coppicing
  • chainsaw maintenance and cross-cutting
  • managing your woodland
  • planning and planting a new woodland
  • marketing and selling timber
  • fence and hedge laying.

Courses will be available until March 2025. Applications are now open.

See: To view a list of training providers and apply for funding visit GOV.UK