The role of forests and forestry is changing rapidly and profoundly as an expanded vision of sustainable development within planetary boundaries takes hold around the world. This opens major opportunities for the sector, but also poses significant challenges. A motivated, skilled and enabled workforce will be critical, if the forestry sector is to seize the opportunities and meet the challenges.
In order to assist stakeholders in the forestry sector to successfully navigate the transition, UNECE, FAO and FOREST EUROPE jointly developed the Guidelines on the Promotion of Green Jobs in Forestry. The Guidelines include specific recommendations in five key areas for action. We have developed this page to further share experiences on implementation of the Guidelines, to collect concrete examples of best practices, and to attract more young people towards green jobs in the forestry sector.
GROW GREEN JOBS!
The Grow Green Jobs campaign will start on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February 2022) and will run for some months. The main aim is to raise awareness about these success stories and innovative Green Jobs in the forest sector. We are targeting young mid 20s students/new graduates of both bachelor and master degrees in forestry or related fields. The campaign also addresses concerns about gender exclusivity as well as work location and conditions.
What is Grow Green Jobs? It’s a “Tag and Share” challenge on Instagram (@foresteuropedotorg) to invite current forest sector workers to share their green jobs in the format of one-minute videos with the hashtag #GrowGreenJobs. FOREST EUROPE will kick-start the campaign with more than 30 videos from examples from and distribute related material on other social media channels. Further outreach will be carried out through campus radios, student associations/interest groups, podcast, professional networks and streaming services. More info here.
The following are examples of initiatives that contribute to 1. collect data on the current workforce to enable evidence-based policy and decision making, 2. make efforts at a national level to improve the availability, reliability and representativeness of data related to the social aspects of sustainable forest management, 3. make use of modelling techniques to asses future demand and supply, 4. establish and maintain consultation and dialogue mechanisms on workforce development, or 5. formulate, adopt and implement national green jobs development strategies.
The following are examples of initiatives that help to 1. establish and maintain fora that allow dialogue and collaboration to detect evolving needs in the labour market and identify responses in education and skill development; 2. compile relevant working conditions information required for decent work with guidance on implementation in forestry and disseminate this widely among stakeholders; 3. strengthen the information base about occupational safety and health, 4. conduct work safely by contractors for people and the environment.
The following are examples of initiatives that help to 1. reduce the impact of job losses and industry changes on workers and communities, 2. produce new green and decent jobs, or 3. integrate provisions for just transition in the forestry sector into national plans and policies for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the national environmental and climate change action plans.
The following are examples of initiatives that 1. map non-traditional forest goods and services and unlock their potential; 2. promote sustainable forestry in rural communities; and 3. make use of new opportunities as an alternative career path for workers no longer able to carry out traditional forest work.
The following are examples of initiatives that 1. give priority to attracting high potential, in particular young, new entrants and new skills for the forestry sector; 2. meet decent work criteria and fit with the image of forestry as part of a green economy; and 3. Improve wages, working conditions and career prospects in the forestry sector and in occupations related to the green economy.