Rainforest Restoration Team Worker

You only need to step foot in Scotland's lush, verdant and atmospheric rainforests to understand their enchantment. Bursting with biodiversity, these woodlands are one of the world's rarest habitats. But Scotland's Rainforest is in trouble and urgent action is needed to save it.  

The Morvern peninsula contains some of Scotland's finest remaining rainforest, and there is immense potential to restore and expand this habitat for the benefit of people and wildlife. Through the RSPB-led Saving Morvern's Rainforest project, we hope to support landowners, land managers and the local community to realise their vision of a thriving, healthy rainforest.  

Do you have a passion for practical nature conservation and enjoy working in the outdoors? Would you like the challenge of carrying out physically demanding habitat restoration work in remote locations on a beautiful peninsula and islands? We are looking for a responsible and highly practical person to work in a small team dedicated to restoring rainforest by removing rhododendron across the Morvern peninsula in the West Highlands.

For this role you will need to have excellent problem-solving skills and work well within a small team in potentially challenging situations. Your enthusiasm for both nature conservation and living in a remote, tight-knit community will be key to your success in this role. You’ll work alongside your team members to ensure effective collaboration and progress towards restoration goals.  

What’s the role about? 
The Rainforest Restoration Team will deliver a works programme of invasive rhododendron removal to achieve key conservation objectives of Saving Morvern’s Rainforest project. The practical work will mostly focus on rhododendron control and will often be in remote locations with potentially long days of work and travel. A significant proportion of the project area requires overnight stays on site (the accommodation for these onsite stays is arranged through the project during the working week only).

Key work areas 
•    Responsible for delivery of practical conservation land management to ensure that objectives are met and the most appropriate methodology is carried out to a high standard. 
•    Responsible for compliance of own site operations with all relevant codes of practice and legal requirements (health and safety, environmental management and legal compliance of conservation and land management operations). 
•    Maintenance of machinery to ensure it is operating safely and efficiently. 
•    Development and management of effective relationships with multiple landowners and land managers across the project area to ensure project delivery. 
•    Collation and input of biological data into appropriate databases.

Required qualifications, knowledge, skills, experience and personal qualities: 

Essential criteria

1.    Practical experience of relevant conservation land management activities, carried out to a high standard. 
2.    Ability to operate and maintain a range of machinery, vehicles and equipment, with good tool competence and a good knowledge of site-based Health & Safety management. 
3.    Excellent interpersonal skills with the tact, diplomacy and negotiating skills to develop and maintain good relations with the owners/managers of land on which the team is working. 
4.    Ability and keenness to work outdoors in very remote places, and to meet the logistical, and physical challenges these places present. 
5.    Ability and keenness to stay overnight in remote locations, including islands, in accommodation arranged by the project.
6.    Ability to work as part of a team, demonstrate effective team communication skills, and enjoy collaborating with others.
7.    Experience in record keeping /data management/ IT literate. 
8.    Ability to use own initiative to solve day-to-day problems in the field. 
9.    Excellent personal time management and prioritisation skills. 
10.  Outdoor/forestry first aid qualification (does not need to be in-date).
11.  Driving licence. Given the remote locations and limited public transport, the ability to drive is essential for this role.

Desirable criteria 

12.  An interest in and enthusiasm for nature conservation, and knowledge of relevant habitat restoration practices, including rhododendron removal techniques and woodland creation/restoration. 
13.  Practical range of land-based qualifications, e.g., safe handling and application of herbicides (PA1 & PA6), chainsaw, off-road 4x4 driving. These are advantageous but not a pre-requisite as relevant training can be provided across a range of skills for the right candidate.  
14.   Experience using mapping programmes such as ArcGIS or Merlin. This is not a pre-requisite as training can be provided for the right candidate. 
 
This is a Fixed-Term/ Full-Time role for 37.5 hours per week until December 2026 (we hope to extend this contract length subject to funding).

The RSPB reserves the right to extend or make this role permanent without further advertising dependent on business needs at the end of the contract term.

We are looking to conduct interviews for this position from Monday 10th November. For further information please contact [email protected].

As part of this application process you will be asked to provide a copy of your CV and complete an application form including evidence on how you meet the skills, knowledge, and experience listed above.

The RSPB is a licenced sponsor. This role is not eligible for UK Visa Sponsorship - the successful applicant will need to have a pre-existing Right to Work in the UK in order to be offered an employment contract.

Before applying for this role, we recommend reading through the candidate guidance notes.