Estate Forester

The Harewood Estate spans 4000 acres, nestled between Leeds and Harrogate, set in landscape designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown 250 years ago. Recent years have seen a major overhaul of the direction and operations at Harewood to protect the past while also staying relevant for the future.

The Estate has an increasingly diverse range of business interests including commercial units, residential properties, holiday cottages, arable and livestock farming, forestry, renewable energy generation, food production and hospitality.

Harewood has made great strides to become a leisure and lifestyle destination, undertaken extensive works to refurbish many listed buildings and recently started a major 10-year landscape and heritage restoration and regeneration project. With funding from the Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship Scheme, to restore damaged and degraded historic structures, ecosystems and natural processes, create new habitats, encourage greater biodiversity and enhance natural capital functions.

Delivered mostly by the inhouse Estate team, who are self-motivated, inspiring, skilled and dedicated people with a passion for Harewood, the environment, conservation and the outdoors. They want to play a part in initiatives that protect the Estate's Listed buildings and features while also finding solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises that result in improved landscapes for future generations.

The Role/Job Purpose

Harewood has over 800 acres of woodland, including around 150 acres of Ancient Woodland sites, which contain hundreds of ancient and veteran trees, some of which can be traced back to medieval times. The Forestry Department is made up of a small, skilled team who undertake a wide variety of works across the Estate. These are primarily focused on the delivery of our 10 year Woodland Management Plan, however tasks also include overlap with wider Estate works such as grounds and livestock.

An opportunity has arisen for a Forester to join the team to support this work, with a particular focus on tree maintenance, squirrel control and in-house felling. The nature of the work will require the employee to work outdoors in all weathers. The job is physically demanding and requires the applicant to be physically fit and in full health. Ongoing medical issues should be highlighted before employment is offered to facilitate any future needs that need to be catered for the employee to carry out their role to the best of their ability. The role will report to the Forestry Manager.

Key Responsibilities

• Restock and establishment work: hand planting, tree guard installation and controlling vegetation.
• Clearing and maintaining trees: high pruning, cutting back and felling.
• Estate maintenance: vegetation and tree management alongside roads, rides, rights of way and permissive paths.
• Assist with safe clearance of fallen trees, often resulting from storm damage.
• To operate and maintain forestry machinery with proper regard to safety regulations in accordance with health & safety procedures.
• Assist with extraction and forwarding of timber from around the Estate back to central locations where they are stacked prior to processing for chip or firewood.
• Assist with in-house woodland compartment maintenance, including thinning\'s.
• Invasive species removal and pest management (including Grey Squirrels, Rhododendron and Bracken).
• Undertake boundary management, including fence repairs and maintenance, clearance along ha-ha, gate repairs and hedge cutting.
• Involvement in a range of survey and data entry, e.g. for ancient and veteran trees, deer and squirrel impacts, biodiversity recording
• Support the creation of new woodland and wood pasture restoration via the planting of new parkland trees and scrub.
• Utilise the Estate's woodland pigs (Oxford Sandy and Blacks).