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.
London Diversity and Inclusion report 2019
The past few years have seen a noticeable increase in efforts to improve diversity and inclusion (D&I) within the workplace and society. The LTOA Diversity and Inclusion Working Party was formed to investigate potential barriers into accessing the arboricultural professions, to understand the current state of diversity and inclusion within the London tree officer community and make changes and recommendations to improve accessibility and outreach.
In 2019 full members of the LTOA were asked to complete a D&I survey, which identified areas in which diversity is low and provided details on challenges to diversity within the sector.
The survey found that London tree officers are not representative of the population that they serve in areas such as gender, ethnicity, nationality and religion. It also revealed barriers to entering the profession. The findings informed a list of actions and aims which can be taken by the LTOA and by organisations across the industry to increase diversity and inclusion.
Going forward the Diversity and Inclusion Working Party aims to roll out the survey to members of ATO and the national Tree Officer Forum, to monitor future changes to diversity within London tree officers and to develop a strategy for achieving the actions and aims highlighted by the survey.
We would like to thank Treework Environmental Practice and Street Tree Ltd for sponsoring the design and layout of this LTOA document.
Click here to view the London Tree Officers Association Diversity and Inclusion Working Party Report
