The lack of a sufficiently large skilled workforce is a key barrier to England’s tree planting ambitions. Addressing this requires a well-funded and planned workforce and skills strategy. Defra and the Forestry Commission are working to address the issue, but work is in the early stages and looks unlikely to deliver the immediate improvement needed, particularly in woodland creation roles that need to increase by over 75%. We recommend that Defra commit to a target of bringing at least an ext...

The lack of a sufficiently large skilled workforce is a key barrier to England’s tree planting ambitions. Addressing this requires a well-funded and planned workforce and skills strategy. Defra and the Forestry Commission are working to address the issue, but work is in the early stages and looks unlikely to deliver the immediate improvement needed, particularly in woodland creation roles that need to increase by over 75%. We recommend that Defra commit to a target of bringing at least an extra three hundred new people into woodland creation roles by 2025. Defra should create a dedicated taskforce with membership from the Department for Educa Type: recommendation | Number: 12 | Paragraph: 79 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: Through the Nature for Climate Fund, we have boosted resource in Defra, Forestry Commission, Natural England and with many charities and private partners. This workforce is designing and delivering schemes with landowners, businesses, ch