FIVE young foresters have been honoured after completing an "industry-leading" graduate scheme.
Jacob Bouma, Rowan Cunningham, Jemma McLachlan, Harry McDonald, and Dafydd Powell are the latest to come through Scottish Woodlands' Graduate Development Programme, which aims to develop the next generation of forestry professionals in a real-world setting.
The firm's managing director Ian Robinson celebrated the new graduates at an event at Crieff Hydro - including a fun team-building activity, a short presentation by each graduate, then a drinks reception and dinner.
Ian said: "It’s always a pleasure to welcome the new graduates formally into the company, to reward their hard work and talent.
"We’ve now recruited 60 people since we started the programme in 2017 and the vast majority are still with the firm and making a fantastic contribution to the firm now - and will undoubtedly continue to do so in future.”
The group all completed the two-year Graduate Development Programme in October 2024, with the exception of Jemma, who completed hers in October 2023, but was unable to attend the event.
Lynne Macdonald, HR manager at Scottish Woodlands, said: “We always aim to make the graduation day enjoyable - and this year’s event was no exception, thanks to Mind Benders, a team-building challenge involving a variety of games to test mental and physical ability. Thanks to the good weather, we were able to do all the activities outside.”
Launched in 2017, the programme is now an Accredited Scheme through the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF).
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