Forestry scholarship applications open
Applications have opened for the Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau (Forestry Scholarships) for study in 2023.
Te Uru Rākau Forestry New Zealand says it is providing funding to nine training and employment programmes in the sector.
The $1.5 million in funding comes from the One Billion Trees programme, which was announced in 2018.
Acting deputy director-general Henry Weston says the Forestry and Wood Processing Workforce Action Plan 2020-2024 identifies that the sector will require 5,000 more workers by 2025.
Weston says there has not been a further breakdown of that figure to find out how many of the required workers would need to fill entry level positions and how many would need to be skilled workers.
He told Rural News the food and fibre sectors are key drivers of the New Zealand economy and that investing in projects that attract people to the sector is a priority. “
As New Zealand continues to recover from the economic impacts of Covid-19, we need people taking up careers in this important sector.”
Weston says the forestry and wood processing sector currently brings in between $6 and $7 billion per year, employing 35,000 people.
“We want to keep helping New Zealanders find exciting and rewarding training and career opportunities.
“It was great to see ten trainees graduate from a 17-week Taranaki-based course at the end of 2020 and go straight into jobs.”
The course, run by Treemachine Services, received $183,240 in the round of funding.
Another programme KTM Silviculture Limited, in Masterton, received $200,000 to run a programme for 24 trainees to gain Level 3 NZQA silviculture training qualifications.
Also identified in the Forestry and Wood Processing Workforce Action Plan is the issue of diversity in the sector. The document states that the majority of employees in the industry are male, European and older than New Zealand’s median age.
Weston says a scholarship was set up by Te Uru Rākau Forestry New Zealand to tackle this issue.
“Our Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarship programme aims to increase diversity in forestry sciences and engineering, with a strong focus on encouraging Māori and women to embark on forestry careers,” he says.
“These two groups currently represent only a small percentage of the forestry workforce in senior level roles, and Te Uru Rākau is working to ensure the forestry and wood processing sectors are more reflective of our communities.”
Weston says both the scholarship and the training programme funding are a part of the organisation’s programme to assist the industry to meet its employment needs in the future.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…
OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…