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Commonwealth
Forests | | |
 Introduction
The education of foresters in the Commonwealth has a long history. The earliest formal
education appears to have been the programme established at the Royal Engineering College
(Coopers Hill, England) in 1885 by German silviculturalist William Schlich, which was
specifically intended to train foresters for the nascent Indian Forest Service. It was broadened
in scope in 1905, when the School of Forestry was transferred to the University of Oxford
(Burley et al. 2004), where training was provided for forest officers serving throughout the
then
British Empire. Other programmes quickly followed, notably those at the Universities of
Aberdeen, Edinburgh3 and Toronto (Canada) in 1907 with Wales (Bangor) in 1908, many
countries within what is now the Commonwealth had one or more forestry schools. The rapid
expansion in forestry education at the beginning of the 20th century was mirrored by a decline
in forestry education at the close of the century. Declining enrolments and the changes in the
skills sets needed by professional foresters has caused considerable uncertainty. Over the
past 20 years, the university-based education of foresters throughout the Commonwealth has
been undergoing major and, at times, radical change. As indicated in the companion section
on technical education, the role of professional foresters is evolving dramatically, as are the
institutions that provide them with the necessary education.
This review focuses on the professional education leading to degrees in forestry at
Commonwealth universities. Although the distinction between many diploma courses and
degrees has become blurred, a possibly artificial distinction has been made between
programmes that lead to diplomas (considered as technical education) and programmes that
lead to degrees (considered as professional education). This means that no consideration has
been given to institutions such as the Cyprus Forestry College, which only offers diplomas in
forestry.
3 A lectureship was established in forestry at Edinburgh in 1889, with the B.Sc in
Forestry first
awarded in 1907.
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