Students get insight into forestry careers
Students have been given a detailed insight into potential careers in forestry on site visits arranged by Scottish Woodlands Ltd.
The group from SRUC - Scotland's Rural College - saw the industry close up and personal at Glen of Rothes, south of Elgin in Moray, and Sleepieshill, to the east of Elgin.
The visit was arranged for students from SRUC's Aberdeen campus who have taken, or are scheduled to take, forestry modules as part of their Countryside Management course.
Ben M Taylor, a Forest Manager based in Scottish Woodlands' office in Fochabers, Moray, said: "The purpose was to give the students a real-life insight to enhance their knowledge of the role of a forest manager, and other opportunities in the forestry sector."
At Glen of Rothes, the group observed ground preparation taking place as part of a large woodland creation operation - and saw an area where trees were felled, then new trees replanted, after damage caused by Storm Arwen in November, 2021. There were also discussions about some of the maintenance challenges of replanting (or "restocking") sites, such as the threat from pine weevil outbreaks.
At Sleepieshill, the students saw a Scots Pine-dominated forest and discussed different management interventions such as thinning, weeding and deer control. All with the aim of establishing Scots Pine and achieving areas of continuous cover forestry.
"We also spoke about different ways of dealing with weeds as well the challenges of deer management," Mr Taylor added. "The visit went very well, with lots of insightful and interesting questions from the students."
Scottish Woodlands Ltd was also represented on the visit by Assistant Forest Manager Yolanda Piotrowicz and student placement Alejandro Casabuena.