THE diversity of the UK's tree officers "must improve" to become more reflective of the nation, a new survey of the country's arborists has concluded. 

Tree officers fall below national average diversity indices in areas of gender, ethnicity, nationality, and religion, with more than half of respondents agreeing there to be preventative barriers to entering and progressing in the profession. 

While the research found a noticeable increase in efforts to improve diversity and inclusion in recent years, two in five of the 181 tree officers polled answered yes to directly facing hurdles to breaking into arboriculture.

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The report concluded: "The importance of diversity and inclusion is clear. Tree officers from a range of different backgrounds and experiences generate more ideas, creativity and innovation, which in turn improves problem solving and decision making, and so brings strength and resilience to our profession. 

"Ultimately, greater diversity and inclusion make us better able to represent our own communities and address the shared challenges that we face." 

Elsewhere, the London Tree Officers Association (LTOA) Diversity and Inclusion Working Party (DIWP), in association with the Association of Tree Officers (ATO), 2022 ATO Diversity and Inclusion Report found: 

  • The majority (75 per cent) of respondents were male, while 23 per cent were female, underlining a notable disparity when compared to the national workforce ratio of 53 per cent male and 47 per cent female
  • Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents consider themselves to be neurodiverse, compared to 12 per cent of the wider workforce, stipulating the tree officer role is more attractive to those considered neurodiverse
  • 85 per cent of respondents stated they had no religion or were agnostic or atheist, in comparison to 29 per cent of the UK population who stated they had no religion or responded ‘other’ in the UK Census 2011
  • Zero respondents were below the age of 25, indicating a lack of entry level positions and young people coming into the profession

The report concluded: "The results of this survey underline the need for change to improve the diversity of tree officers.

"The barriers to entering the profession and progressing through a career as a tree officer are varied, but common threads such as industry culture and the limited number of entry level positions, combined with a low industry profile clearly need to be addressed if the profession is to grow and thrive. 

"These issues need to be addressed not just by individuals and local authority employers, but by the wider industry and our professional bodies." 

The full report can be viewed here.