Environment Minister, Mairi McAllan, has highlighted Forestry and Land Scotland as a place for young people as the organisation reached the milestone of having 40 Work Based Learning placements.

The 40 students (13 women and 27 men) are working across a range of disciplines, including forestry, mechanical engineering, finance, procurement business admin and data science, either as part of an Apprenticeship programme or a mid-year placement for a degree course.

Ms McAllan, said;

“Forestry is a key rural industry which contributes around £1 billion annually to our economy while supporting biodiversity and helping to tackle climate change.  So it is important for us to be providing career opportunities to the next generation of foresters and related staff through our national forestry and land agency.

“I recently met with some apprentices and was impressed by their commitment to learning and their enthusiasm for the placement experience.

“Gaining practical experience helps all FLS apprentices to develop and refine the skills that they have learned while providing an insight into the wider areas of operation and the range of opportunities within a large organisation.  We also want more young people to know about and appreciate trees and forestry and what they offer our environmental and economic ambitions for Scotland.

“Forestry needs more young people so it’s very encouraging to see how well these opportunities have been taken up and to see FLS reach this milestone.”

Over the past two years, 30  young people have gained invaluable workplace experience with FLS, with all of them going on to full employment with the organisation or elsewhere in the sector.

The current placement students are located all over the country.

Anyone interested in finding out more should check FLS job’s pages, speak to Apprenticeship.scot or their Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) representative at school.

Notes to editors

1. Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) manages forests and land owned by Scottish Ministers in a way that supports and enables economically sustainable forestry; conserves and enhances the environment; delivers benefits for people and nature; and supports Scottish Ministers in their stewardship of Scotland's national forests and land.

2. forestryandland.gov.scot | twitter.com/ForestryLS

3. Media enquiries to Paul Munro, Media Manager, Forestry and Land Scotland Media Office 07785 527590 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.