Winter storm blows in fresh experiences for Inverness College UHI Forestry Students on Rum

Students from the Scottish School of Forestry, Inverness UHI have been given the chance to branch out after extreme winds brought chaos to the Isle of Rum.

High winds on the 8^th of December brought down a number of trees and damaged local property when a group of eight Inverness College UHI students were on a work experience placement on the island.

Inverness College UHI Forestry lecturer Neil Stewart said, “Before the hurricane hit, we had already started maintaining Clearing saws for the programme of work we had been given. However after seeing how bad the weather had become we began working on the chain saws.”

“The following day the students investigated the full extent of the damage and found seven Austrian Pines were blocking the roads with one tree lying across a building and another on top of kerosene tanks.”

“This experience gave students the chance to observe how to deal with wind blown trees and let them see first hand how the chain saws are used in this kind of incident. They also managed to help the local community in a big way as the team cleared up all the fallen material in one day instead of the week it would otherwise have taken.”

“The team were a brilliant help and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

The Scottish School of Forestry at Inverness College UHI provides a huge range of courses on this subject including a BSc Degree in Sustainable Forest Management with Forest Conservation or Arboriculture and Urban Forestry as well as HND and HNC qualifications. They are also the leading school for SCQF qualifications in Conservation and Land Based Skills.

Inverness College UHI student Graham MacKenzie, who’s studying for a Certificate in Forestry was on the placement, he said, “We got so much hands on experience it was great. In the time we were on Rum we learnt more in one day than we would in a week of classes.”

“We didn’t use the chainsaws ourselves but the storm meant our tutor was able to show us all the relevant health and safety measures rather than just teach us them. In a way, the high winds were a blessing in disguise because we got to do so much more than was on our original work experience plan.”

For any further information on courses offered by the Scottish School of Forestry please log on to:

http://www.inverness.uhi.ac.uk/course-information/construction-and-forestry/forestry