Forest Liaison Officer

Job reference: REQ0565

Location: Scotland (South Region)

Contractual hours: 37

Basis: Full time

Salary: £30427 - £32615 (27.1% pension contribution plus benefits)

Job Overview

Working at Forestry and Land Scotland is all about ‘People, Pride and Purpose.’ Join us and take pride in helping look after something incredibly valuable to the people of Scotland and its visitors – Scotland’s national forests and land.

Our South Region extends from the eastern Scottish Borders, across Dumfries and Galloway, to the Isle of Arran. It includes Galloway Forest Park, the UK’s largest forest park, as well as Scotland’s first Dark Sky Park, and first UNESCO Biosphere. There are visitor centres at Glentress, Glentrool, Clatteringshaws and Kirroughtree.

The planning and environment teams work closely with other teams and specialists to design sustainable forests of the future. Our forests and land deliver multiple benefits, often within the same space. Forest Liaison Officers (FLOs) play a key role in helping us realise renewable energy potential, bringing it together with our other objectives to deliver diverse and integrated land management.

If you’re interested, please click apply, where you can find the job description and Success Profile document attached for a full role overview. Send us your CV and a supporting statement for this role.

About the team

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is looking for enthusiastic, practical, creative people to join our planning and environment team in South Region. The South Region team of FLS manage and care for 170,000 ha of public land, extending from the eastern Scottish Borders to the Isle of Arran. In South Region we:

• produce over one million m³ of sustainable timber every year
• replant hundreds of hectares each year to create tomorrow’s forests
• support large scale renewables projects that supply energy to thousands of homes
• provide world-class facilities for mountain bikers, walkers and outdoor enthusiasts
• restore peatlands, sometimes on a pretty large scale
• create new woodlands on former opencast sites
• manage open land and woodland habitats to benefit a diverse range of wildlife

The planning and environment teams work closely with other teams and specialists to design sustainable forests of the future, protect and restore semi-natural habitats, respond to climate change and enhance our landscapes. We facilitate and integrate responsible renewable energy and infrastructure on Scotland’s forests and land to support the nations’ climate goals.

We live and work in iconic – or sometimes spectacular but lesser known – landscapes, often with great

access to outdoor activities, but never that far from major towns either. See more about where we live and work on our website where you can also find a map showing the location and extent of each region.

Main Duties

• Build and maintain excellent working relationships with stakeholders such as community groups, neighbours, statutory consultees, and agreement holders.
• Support and assist national renewables team and other regional staff in general liaison with third parties including agreement holders, such as facilitating permissions for surveys and work to be carried out by them on national forests and land.
• Prepare and provide developers with relevant information held by FLS, and support others in assessing proposals, testing options and revising Land Management Plans.
• Provide support to third parties and internal teams, including gathering relevant forest related information and mapping, environmental mitigation and details of Land Management Plans.
• Liaise with third parties over management of sites, ensuring the interests of FLS are protected in relation to tree felling, quarrying and roading operations.
• Carry out regular site supervision to ensure no breaches of health and safety or environmental guidelines, and that the project remains within the terms of plans and agreements.

Application closing date: 18 April 2023.

Apply link here.