Community Ranger - Bristol and Savernake

Forestry England is part of the Forestry Commission. West England Forest District is responsible for the sustainable management of over 36,500ha of the public forest estate in the west and south-west of England. The District extends from woodlands just to the north of Shrewsbury, southwards to the majestic oak and beech woods of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire and south-west as far as Idless Woods near Truro in Cornwall. The District is managed from the District Office at Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, supported by local Forest Beat or Recreation Hub delivery teams dispersed across the Forest District. These local teams are responsible for the delivery of agreed work programmes.

The Bristol & Savernake beat is diverse in composition and setting, from conifer plantations in the Mendips to Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designated ancient woodland in Savernake and Bristol. The beat includes a range of facilities, from small carparks with desire lines to established recreation areas with ANPR. The high public access at many of these sites presents challenges and opportunities in the delivery of multifunctional forestry. The team are based in the Leigh Woods office in Bristol. The Beat is led by a Beat Forester, supported by a team of four staff, including the community ranger, who together, are responsible for all aspects of woodland management, including timber sales, tree safety, community engagement and wildlife management.

The post-holder will support the Beat Forester in communicating with and engaging the public to explain a wide range of forestry operations, recreational activities, and work to overcome antisocial behaviours in our woodlands. An average week could include working in multiple locations on the beat, carrying out trail and safety inspections, following up on reported incidents of antisocial behaviour, writing letters and signs to explain forestry operations to the local community, leading a community group or carrying out conservation work with volunteers.

We are looking for an individual who has good communication and planning skills, resourcefulness, and an ability to work safely and productively as part of a team and independently. The role requires driving to site regularly and being outdoors in all weathers. There may be some occasional weekend or out-of-hours working.

Key Work Areas:

Communication and Engagement

Develop new and alternative ways of engaging with local people to ensure there are different opportunities for people to hear about and get involved in our work, particularly those hard-to-reach audiences who may not use the typical or traditional ways of engaging.

Feed into social media and Telling our Story. Sharing your work through internal channels, e.g. articles for our District newsletter and attending local meetings as appropriate.

Interact with our visitors in a positive way (either face to face or through digital channels such as social media) to help them understand and connect to our forests and woodlands.

Partnership working

Initiate and lead or support partnership projects ensuring joint positive outcomes.

Develop and maintain an up to date, growing network of contacts across the communities in the beat, representing a cross section of the people living, working and using our woodlands.

Proactively tell the story of how we manage forests, including local engagement about proposed and active forestry operations on the beat.

Volunteering

Encourage the development of meaningful volunteering opportunities on the beat for individuals, groups and companies, and facilitate first time visits by hard to reach or otherwise under-represented groups to encourage greater use of their woods.

Recreation

Review and provide feedback for Permissions consultations.

Undertake regular safety inspections, ensuring that defects are properly recorded and rectified in a timely manner. Undertake minor maintenance tasks as required. Record incidents and accidents into Airsweb, collating all relevant information.

Inspections will include walking trails, cycling trails and car parks, management of unauthorised trails, litter and fly-tip clearance reports.

Management of ANPR on sites.

Annual Risk Assessment reviews for recreation facilities across the beat.

Challenge antisocial behaviour in the woodlands we manage, from littering to unauthorised trail building, documenting issues and working with the community to change behaviours.

What could be better than working outdoors in the nation's vast and varied forests, taking on challenging tasks, and making a tangible difference. Our Community Rangers use their broad skills and ongoing training to directly engage the community in the work of Forestry England. Our Community Rangers are also key in helping to ensure our woodlands are safe for the public to enjoy. The work is varied and would suit a person who is self-motivated and well organised to undertake tasks in a safe and efficient manner.