As timber suppliers who care about the timber industry and how it affects our local cities of Brisbane and Sydney, we like to keep abreast of all developments and issues that we may feel are relevant to our readers and customers. We recently came upon a statement by the Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA), based in Canberra.
According to the IFA, there is a shortage of trained foresters to keep up with the amount of jobs that are being created through growth and the vacancies created as many foresters approach retirement age.
According to industry representatives such as Rob De Fegely of the IFA, the public image of forestry has suffered and not enough people are studying forestry to fill in the upcoming vacancies for jobs. In particular, he feels that the industry is facing a major shortage of qualified forestry management personnel if more students don’t enrol in master's and postgraduate level programs.
Mr De Fegely blames the 1990’s practice of integrating forestry courses into general science degrees, allowing employers to train those with generalist degrees “in-house.” Unfortunately, the result has been a shortage of qualified foresters entering the workforce.
According to Mr De Fegely, “Young people working in forestry companies just haven’t had the skills or the research or the study to explain why they’re making mistakes.”
According to Dr Antanas Spokevicius of the University of Melbourne, forestry has suffered as of late from a bad image, making forestry courses unattractive to many students. Dr Spokevicius maintains that students need to be educated that forestry happens both in forests and on plantations and is about sustainability and protection of renewable resources.
He added that in responsible forestry, every tree that is harvested is replanted and replaced, keeping the process sustainable.
We love working with timber on our end. We feel like we are providing people with great building materials and helping to save our environment at the same time. We think forestry is a great field and would encourage anyone who is interested to investigate the field more closely.
To learn more or to enquire about timber, call Narangba Timbers today on 1300 477 024.