Industry Spotlight
Silvicultural Forester Paul Ashton
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Interview: Paul AshtonJob Title: Silvicultural Forester
Company: Australian Bluegum Plantations Region: Albany/Great Southern How long have you worked in the timber industry? 15 years |
Tell us about your job – what is your role?
I have a varied role, including supervision of a whole bunch of plantations, everything from establishment, maintenance, monitoring, planning, fire protection, right through until harvest. My job takes me from sticking the tiny trees in the ground all the way through to when they get cut down.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
The variety of tasks, and the seasonal variety. There’s so many different aspects to my job, it can be quite unplanned and things can pop up, but that’s one of the reasons why I find it interesting. The other thing I like is that we produce a good product that’s sustainable.
What other timber jobs have you worked at, if any?
My first job was tree planting, and I also worked in inventory – tree measuring.
What is one thing about the timber industry that people don’t know or realise?
I think there’s a lot of things people don’t realise, the main one is that it’s a sustainable industry. I don’t think people realise the value of our product as a resource, or the value of the industry to regional communities either, in terms of employment and economics.
What would you like to see change or improve for the future of the industry?
I think the forestry industry needs to improve in communicating our positives. Forestry in general is an easy target for misinformation. It would be really good to see a change in community understanding of the industry.
I have a varied role, including supervision of a whole bunch of plantations, everything from establishment, maintenance, monitoring, planning, fire protection, right through until harvest. My job takes me from sticking the tiny trees in the ground all the way through to when they get cut down.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
The variety of tasks, and the seasonal variety. There’s so many different aspects to my job, it can be quite unplanned and things can pop up, but that’s one of the reasons why I find it interesting. The other thing I like is that we produce a good product that’s sustainable.
What other timber jobs have you worked at, if any?
My first job was tree planting, and I also worked in inventory – tree measuring.
What is one thing about the timber industry that people don’t know or realise?
I think there’s a lot of things people don’t realise, the main one is that it’s a sustainable industry. I don’t think people realise the value of our product as a resource, or the value of the industry to regional communities either, in terms of employment and economics.
What would you like to see change or improve for the future of the industry?
I think the forestry industry needs to improve in communicating our positives. Forestry in general is an easy target for misinformation. It would be really good to see a change in community understanding of the industry.
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