Forestry news
New National Forestry Masters Convenor joins the Program
Dr Lyndall Bull joined the NFM Program on 6 June, as National Convenor Lyndall brings a wealth of relevant experience, in Australia and internationally, to the role. She'll be based at ANU, but work across the Program.
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Forestry graduates are happiest, and rural starting salaries are better
Two 2006 surveys by Graduate Careers Australia are good news for aspiring foresters. The 'course experience' questionnaire found that graduating foresters were the happiest with their programs among all fields of study. The 'graduate salaries' questionnaire revealed that annual starting salaries for jobs in country areas average $42,000 – $2,000 above those in urban areas, which also have higher living costs.
Forest industry skills audit finds foresters in high demand
A 2006 forest industry skills audit funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and undertaken by the national industry bodies, the National Association of Forest Industries (NAFI) and the Australian Plantation Products and Paper Industry Council (A3P), found that foresters are in high demand, and short supply, as the Australian forestry and forest products sector evolves and expands. Changing forest resource bases, expansion and development of processing facilities, and technological and management changes, all call for increased numbers of foresters and forestry researchers, as well as cross-sectoral fields such as business management, engineering, marketing and trades. Read more about careers in forestry.
Industry leader ITC calls for more skilled foresters
Vince Erasmus, CEO of ITC, a leading hardwood forestry company, listed the lack of skilled foresters as one of the biggest problems for the industry. The Age newspaper quoted him as saying, 'The pool of new graduates with technical forestry training is practically non-existent.' Other challenges he mentioned include the availability of land appropriate for high-quality plantations, antiquated processing technology, and acquiring adequate capital for long-term investment.