Profession forest worker

Forest workers carry out a variety of jobs to care for and manage trees, woodland areas and forests. Their activities include include planting, trimming, thinning and felling trees and protecting them from pests, diseases and damage.

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Personality Type

• Realistic / Conventional

Knowledge

• Pollution prevention

  The processes used to prevent pollution: precautions to pollution of the environment, procedures to counter pollution and associated equipment, and possible measures to protect the environment.

Skills

• Control tree diseases

  Identify diseased or undesirable trees. Remove them using power saws or hand saws.

• Manage forest fires

  Protect life, property and resources by preventing forest fires. Detect, control, restrict and suppress fires when they occur. Integrate knowledge of fire regimes, the effects of fire and the values at risk, the required level of forest protection, and costs of fire-related activities.

• Spray pesticides

  Spray pesticide solutions to keep insects, fungus, weed growth, and diseases under control.

• Work independently in forestry services

  Perform tasks individually in forestry services by taking decisions without help. Handle tasks and tackle with issues or problems without any outside assistance.

• Assist forest survey crew

  Assist the forest survey crew in related tasks by holding measuring tape and survey rods and clearing the vegetation from the sighting line.

• Plant trees

  Transplant and plant trees or tree seeds in woodland areas and forests.

• Build fences

  Put up fences using a pothole digger, shovel, tamper, and other manual tools.

• Perform tree thinning

  Remove some trees from a stand in order to improve tree health, timber value and production.

• Maintain forestry equipment

  Check forestry equipment to make sure that it is in working order.

• Execute disease and pest control activities

  Execute disease and pest control activities using conventional or biological methods taking into account the climate, plant or crop type, health and safety and environmental regulations. Store and handle pesticides in accordance with recomandation and legislation.

• Protect biodiversity

  Sustain biodiversity of the species by observing the ecosystem.

• Plant green plants

  Plant seeds manually or by using ground equipment.

• Assist tree identification

  Assist in the development and improvement of techniques for measuring and identifying trees. Obtain and use various sources of information to accurately identify and name trees, use tree characteristics to aid identification, identify tree species in all seasons.

• Perform pest control

  Carry out crop spraying pest and disease operations in line with National industry and customer requirements. Carry out slurry and fertiliser spreading in accordance with local environmental regulations

• Operate forestry equipment

  Operate various forest instruments such as skidders, bulldozers to pull scarification or site preparation equipment over forest areas to be regenerated.

• Nurse trees

  Plant, fertilise and trim trees, shrubs and hedges. Examine trees to assess their condition and determine treatment. Work to eradicate insects, fungus and diseases which are harmful to trees, assist with prescribed burning, and work on preventing erosion.

• Carry out aerial tree rigging

  Calculate the expected loads the rigging will be exposed to. Select compatible components to make up the rigging system and choose the position of anchor points for rigging components. Take into account the expected load and the positions of the ground crew, other anchor points, equipment, planned drop zone, and processing area. Remove lower tree sections using suitable cuts, minimising shock loading in the rigging system.

• Have a high level of safety awareness

  Ensure high levels of safety awareness; use personal protection equipment; communicate with staff members and provide advice on health and safety issues.

• Climb trees

  Ascend and descend from trees in a safely manner.

• Perform weed control operations

  Carry out crop spraying for weeds and plant disease operations in line with national industry and customer requirements.

• Put up signs

  Put up signs using a posthole digger, shovel, tamper, and other manual tools.

• Maintain trails

  Check trails and clear away brush from trails and roads when necessary. Inspect campsites and prepare the area for visitors.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB