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This conference will explore the changing role of foresters in the job market, the readiness of forestry education curricula for the industry, and the future of forest education in the context of forestry industrialization. Priority needs in forestry education and suggested solutions will also be discussed.
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The South African Academic Environment Supporting Forestry Industrialization: Forestry Education Trends SAFCOL Forestry Industrialization Conference 4-5 October 2017 Main Hall, Transnet Freight Rail-Esselenpark, Kempton Park Paxie W Chirwa SAFCOL Forest Chair Plant & Soil Sciences Department Email: paxie.chirwa@up.ac.zaa
Outline • Introduction • Job market and the changing role of foresters • How about the Curricula: Is the product we are producing ready for the job market? • General sequence of formal education and how it links with forestry education • The Link to the National Qualification Frameworks • Priority needs in forestry education • Reason for lack of students • Future Outlook • The future with forests: Bio-economy • New products, new material, new opportunities • So what is the future of forest education? • Suggested Solutions
Introduction • … the proportions of students studying forestry with a commercial or an environmental focus are changing all the time. From a pure commercial focus 20 years ago it changed to a 50/50 focus during the boom years, but now is moving back to a dominant production focus as students see better job opportunities in the commercial sector.
Introduction • In NZ +ve Demand was a function expanding forest industry • +ve demand for courses related to resource management and environmental sustainability. • -ve enrolment for courses on sawmilling and timber processing despite a demand from the industry for skilled timber workers such as saw doctors and timber machinists.
Introduction • Since the 1990s, 30% decline in No of individuals registering for traditional forestry programme • Any increments lately is influenced by China • Africa especially trends were high with a few exceptions (CBU, Za) • Green (2006) reported that of the 21 schools rated and approved by the society of American Foresters in 1935, only 12 of these were still accredited. • In some cases numbers are rising substantially. For example, educators in Ireland have seen a move to forestry courses as a direct result of the collapse of the construction industry and the Irish economy.
Job market and the changing role of foresters • Major changes in policies and attitudes towards forestry and foresters and thus affecting forestry education: • A renewed emphasis on livelihoods and agricultural production to address food security • Tree planting has moved very strongly from establishment of forest plantations to ToF, out-grower schemes etc • Greater emphasis on the roles of communities in forest resource management. • Investment in forest industries has slackened, reducing the demand for both logging expertise (in the traditional sense) and wood technology experts.
How about the Curricula: Is the product we are producing ready for the job market? • Forestry Sector Skills Development Forum (Launch 2007) • Institutions presented their programs • Main recommendation was to have a generic forestry training as opposed to specialized directions • Many forestry curricula are patchworks, new areas of study such as biodiversity, social and community forestry, agroforestry, etc., are opportunistically added on to existing programmes without due consideration for the overall direction of forestry programmes. • The need to add soft skills such as team leadership, communication and people management.
General sequence of formal education and how it links with forestry education • Forestry certificate holders are expected to serve as foremen (leaders of teams of workers) in forest operations • Diploma holders are sub-professional technicians, able to supervise several teams and be involved in planning operations. • Certificate and diploma holders would be expected to advise and support farmers in tree planting activities (e.g to our Forests under Land Claims).
Diploma & BTech (NMU) The following are the modules: Group 1 • Silviculture • Forestry Engineering • Forest Management • Forest Protection Group 2 • Environmental • Business management • Human Resource Management A student chooses four modules in order to complete a B-Tech qualification. One can choose to do all four modules in group 1, or choose 3 + one module in group 2 or choose two modules in each group.
Priority needs in forestry education • Tree and forest systems outside forests • knowledge in the larger field of natural resource management • Recognition that forests go beyond the domain of traditional timber management • Basic understanding of ecological processes and functioning of tropical forest ecosystems and influencing socio-economic factors • Participatory methodologies and interactive learning skills • Driving forces of agrarian and natural resource production systems • Enterprise education and communication skills • Typology of tree formations (in-and-outside forests): agroforestry, farm forestry, etc. • Collaborative management models and institutional analysis in NRM • Gender equity, access to and natural resource benefit sharing • HIV/AIDS impacts on natural resource management • Resource and land tenure regimes • Forest certification schemes and their potential impact on productivity and profitability • Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, • Impacts of globalization, climate change, • Biotechnology on forest and tree management
Reason for lack of students • A poor image of forestry industry: exploitative, academically unchallenging, male-dominated, • A lack of awareness among school and local authority career advisors • A perception of poor career prospects in terms of finding jobs, levels of pay, conditions of employment, career advancement and job satisfaction • A decline in student interest in studying science subjects at university compared with degrees in the arts, humanities and social sciences • A growing estrangement from the countryside of urban youth resulting in a waning interest in working in the rural economy. • (Innes 2010; Smith 2012):
The future with forests: Bio-economy • “Humanity will likely use more wood in more ways as the future unfolds. If production forests are managed sustainably and wood products are used efficiently or replace others with a heavier footprint, this should be good for the planet” (WWF 2012 The Living Forest report)
Suggested Solutions • Changing the name of the programme to change its image. E.g. forestry with other activities -the School of Forestry and Natural Resources • Amalgamating forestry programmes • Restructuring programmes to broaden the discipline and make them more relevant, such as adding more business courses, communication and leadership, and social courses • Highlighting the use of technology in the sector to counter the image of being primitive technologically • Expanding the programme to incorporate an additional year of industry placement as part of the educational process
References • Innes, J.L. 2010. Professional Education in Forestry. Commonwealth Forests (Chapter 5). Commonwealth Forestry Association, UK. • Smith, M. 2012. Latin America: Forestry Education Searches for a Bridge to the Future. Southern Hemisphere Forest Industry Journal, 17(4): 8-12. • Glen Murphy (2013) International trends in forestry education NZ Journal of Forestry, Vol. 58, No. 1 • Temu et al 2005 Forestry Education in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia:Trends, myths and realities
