At City of Trees we believe its our people who make us and so we want you to meet some of the wonderful folk who are part of our team! Kicking us off is the brilliant Tara who explains what it’s like to be the Assistant Woodlands Officer at City of Trees.
What is your role?
At City of Trees we believe its our people who make and so we want you to meet some of the wonderful folk who are part of our team! Kicking us off is the brilliant Tara who explains what it’s like to be the Assistant Woodlands Officer at City of Trees.
What does a typical day look like for you?
My day to day really varies which is great! It’s a mixture of outdoors and desk.
Site visits – A lot of time is spent meeting with landowners and planning planting schemes on their land, often with Andy, our Woodland Officer. We visit a site several times prior to planting to make sure we’re getting the planting plans right. Once planted, we check on the trees to make sure they are doing well and organise any maintenance works needed.
Mapping – After being onsite, there’s deskwork to do! All planting schemes undergo checks to ensure the planting will not cause any harm to landscape or wildlife. This includes checking environmental designations, peat, and underground services. I’m a map & GIS fan so I love this bit!
Tree orders and the delivery team – I also oversee the tree ordering at City of Trees. Every two weeks, thousands of trees are delivered to our premises, which are then sorted by species into the different projects being planted. I also help with our events from time to time with our fabulous delivery team, planting trees across Greater Manchester with our Citizen Forester volunteers!
What advice do you have for those wanting to get into the sector?
It can be a tricky sector to get into. Groundwork’s New to Nature programme helps people that are underrepresented in the sector. If you can, seek work experience to find out what you like. Even one day shadowing someone boosts your CV. Consider a wide variety of jobs, as important skills and knowledge are often transferable between roles. LinkedIn and Environment Job are good websites for browsing opportunities. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help – ask previous colleagues, mutual friends, or more tenuous acquaintances (nicely!) for advice on applications or work experience opportunities. It can be very useful, and the worst they can do is say no!