Devon Woods – Woodland Creation Officer

Position Term: Until April 2025, with potential to be renewed year on year until April 2027, depending on funding allocation.

A rewarding opportunity within the Biosphere’s woodland creation team has become available for someone who is aspiring to put their skills to the test for delivering large scale woodland creation across Devon.

The project’s main objective is to improve the water quality of Devon’s rivers by planting woodland along river valley corridors, on the contour in areas of steep terrain and to create buffer strips where runoff is directly impacting waterways. The team provides advice and guidance by facilitating grant application on behalf of farmers, land managers and landowners opening opportunities to source funding for creating woodland.

Our woodland creation projects are varied and diverse, from straight forward small scale projects aiming to create pockets of woodland interspersed with shrubs and rides, through to large scale projects where the whole business farm model is being adapted to bring trees into the landscape. The benefits trees provide in the landscape is widely recognised, from creating and expanding habitat, through to the farm business becoming carbon neutral. The need for production of crops and livestock is understood. The team works directly with landowners, advisors and those that farm and manage the land to understand how the land is currently managed to minimise the risk of jeopardising livelihoods or traditional management techniques.

The Devon Woods project provides a concept to delivery service from the initial call to facilitating the final claim. There are opportunities to delve into the Woodland Carbon Code, and to work alongside Biodiversity Net Gain experts.

The project is a partnership project, meaning we work closely with the Forestry Commission, Environment Agency, Woodland Trust, Westcountry Rivers Trust, Local Flood Authority, Devon Wildlife Trust, and projects being facilitated by Local Authorities. Devon Woods is part of the ‘Devon Woodland Creation Working Group’, which focus on collaboration, co-creation, sharing ideas and experiences and developing new ways of working across Devon and beyond.

As the projects Woodland Creation Officer, you will be responsible for delivering high quality tree planting projects across Devon. You will work in collaboration with the project partners and stakeholders, and lead on the delivery of woodland creation projects that generate benefits for wildlife, people, and the surrounding landscape environment. You will design woodlands that comply with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS), that consider sustainability, green-economy, and an element of woodland production for generating local products of value (timber, coppice products, fuel) and that also have the potential to support rural communities. The project actively promotes the benefits of Agroforestry systems and designs woodlands with the associated principles in mind, thinking about long term resilience, climate adaption, and the benefits that woodland creation can bring to farmsteads for crops, livestock, and additional income.

This is an opportunity for someone with a creative flair who is dreaming of achieving monumental impact as part of their career. The Woodland Creation Officer will work with the support of the Devon Wood Project Manager, who will be able to provide specific training to ensure you are adequately supported in the role.

The team looks forward to hearing from applicants who believe in nurturing and restoring the landscape now and for those who will inherit the land in the future.

Deadline for applications is 11.59pm on Sunday 22 September 2024.