Industry hopes to branch out

Trainee Te Riaka Hawira loads cuttings into an Arborco Tree Services unit watched by the company's director, Simon Moore. PICTURE/BEVAN CONLEY 100913WCBRCTree01

The country is "screaming out" for aborists and Wanganui people looking for a career got a taste of the job this month.

A three-week foundation course in arboriculture gave the 12 trainees a good idea of what the job was about, described by tutor Joe Cooper as "climbing trees, removing trees, pruning trees, planting trees, diagnosing trees and consulting about trees."

It is not forestry.

Mr Cooper, of industry training company Thoughtplanters said aborists were scare in New Zealand, and industry was "screaming out for people who knew about the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees."

"We're pushing it as a career. Arborist appears on Immigration New Zealand's immediate skill shortage list."

The foundation course included practical work, courtesy of Arborco Tree Services, with director Simon Moore helping the students find trees to try new skills on.

Mr Cooper described his company as the "travelling sideshow of arboriculture."

It works in all aspects of horticulture, arboriculture and line-clearing work for power and phone companies.

He said the 12 trainees were all "solid, very capable and willing to learn." He was hopeful they would go on to get jobs in the industry through a a three-year apprenticeship which would result in a Level 4 advanced certificate in arboriculture.

The foundation course is run with Telford Polytechnic. The 12 who attended were aged between 17 and late 30s.