This piece is an extract from our Forestry Features newsletter, which is emailed out at 4PM every Wednesday with a round-up of the week's top stories. 

To receive our full, free newsletter straight to your email inbox, click here.

THE more things change, the more they stay the same. At least they do in forestry. 

Regular readers of these newsletters will have noticed several recurring themes over the course of 2023, which all can be traced back to one key thing – the pay (or lack of it) for those on the ground, doing the dirty work that's essential to the industry. 

If it weren't for the planters working through the winter in all sorts of weather, there would be no new woodlands created. If it weren't for the hand cutters going where machines just can't, there would be timber left standing. If it weren't for the operators bringing down trees and shifting logs with a flurry, the sawmills would be running on empty. We could go on, but you get the idea. 

READ MORE: Forestry bosses ramp up recruitment drive in bid to tackle skills shortages

Once again wages and working conditions were thrust front and centre when officials at Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) put out a call for people to consider making the move to forestry. Given the industry needs to plug thousands of positions across the UK, this seemed like a fairly obvious (and welcome) move, and FLS chiefs say they recently added 49 new members of staff to the organisation – including 11 foresters – and have many more on a waiting list.

So far, so good, until you noticed the response from those on the ground to the latest recruitment drive. Comments from our readers included: 

"That will sort it! Well done, the bosses. I am sure they will be beating the doors down to come and break their bodies for below minimum wage as long as you do 12 hours a day."

"Everyone loves the idea of working in forestry, but soon realised that it doesn't pay unless you work nearly 24/7."

"It’s okay ramping up the recruitment drive. The whole industry needs to ramp up the wages, rates and conditions." 

In fairness to FLS, several of the jobs currently being advertised offer a wage around the national average (including the forester position). But there's no doubt wages could be better across the whole of the industry, and especially for those doing some of the toughest work. 

Without them, there wouldn't be a forestry industry at all.