Four trainees have completed the first milestone in Future Woodlands Scotland’s Community Woodland Traineeships, marking an important step towards building local skills and long‑term capacity in Scotland’s community‑managed woodlands.

The trainees completed the Forestry Operations New Entrants (FONES) course, a five‑week practical training programme delivered by the Scottish School of Forestry at UHI Inverness. The course is part of a wider, established programme supported by sector partners including Scottish Woodlands, Aviva and Par Equity, part of PXN Group, and responds directly to skills shortages across the forestry sector.

Future Woodlands Scotland joined the programme in 2026, fully funding four additional trainee places through its Forestry Skills Programme, with support from bp. These community woodland traineeships build on the core course by adding extra training, mentoring and placements with community woodland groups, creating clearer routes into work and further qualifications.

Shireen Chambers, ceo, Future Woodlands Scotland, said: “This programme is about real skills, learned in real woods. Community woodland groups manage significant areas of woodland across Scotland, but many don’t have the resources to employ staff or build skills long‑term. Embedding trainees in community‑managed woods means learning happens in real settings, building confidence and job‑ready skills for trainees while strengthening local capacity for the future.”

Practical training, with clear routes forward

As part of the traineeship, participants completed the five‑week FONES course, covering essential skills including tree planting and identification, safe use of equipment, ATV driving, emergency first aid, and core health and safety.

Future Woodlands Scotland’s community woodland traineeships go further. In addition to the core course, the four trainees received a Forest School taster delivered by Abriachan Forest Trust, a further week of chainsaw training, and six months of ongoing mentoring. They were also placed with community woodland groups, learning on real sites as part of everyday woodland management.

The traineeships are fully funded, covering training costs, accommodation, essential PPE and kit, and a living‑wage stipend, helping remove barriers to entering the forestry sector.

Rafal Florczak, one of the trainees, said: “With the course, I was surprised by how much we were learning. It’s not only about the physical work. You also need to learn a lot about risk assessments and legislation. I’m now hoping to start a career in forestry.”

Looking ahead

The four trainees are now moving on to employment, apprenticeships, self‑employment or further study, with many continuing to work closely with community woodland groups and progressing into further qualifications such as chainsaw certification.

The Community Woodland Traineeships sit within Future Woodlands Scotland’s wider Forestry Skills Programme, which aims to tackle skills gaps and build long‑term capacity across the sector through partnership working between funders, training providers and community woodland groups.