National Diversity and Inclusion report 2022

In 2019 the LTOA diversity and inclusion working party (DIWP) launched the results of their survey of London tree officers to establish the diversity and inclusion (D&I) of those tree officers working in London at that time. One of the recommended actions from the report was to survey tree officers across the UK. 

In 2022, in partnership with the Association of Tree Officers (ATO), the DIWP disseminated a similar survey to tree officers across the UK. The resulting report highlights the need to diversify the tree officer workforce to better represent the communities that officers work in.  It also shows that the majority of tree officers consider there are barriers to entering and progressing in the profession, and indicates the need to provide support, resources and training for those already in the industry. 

The National Diversity and Inclusion Report 2022 recommends further actions for individuals, employers and arboricultural organisations to help to improve D&I.  For example, employers and associations are asked to increase the availability and accessibility of jobs in the field, and arboricultural organisations are asked to consider exclusionary practices and provision of diversity training.

Link to the survey report is available here

The working party would like to thank Treework Environmental Practice and Connick Tree Care for their support in producing this report.