Want to help protect our natural environment? Passionate about helping others understand the beauty around them? Then a career in environmental conservation may be for you.

People working in environmental conservation help look after the landscapes, habitats and species of the UK and Ireland’s hugely varied rural, costal, marine and urban areas. As well as offering spaces for rest and relaxation, our landscapes and habitats are important ways we can all find out more about our environment. They help people learn about sustainable land use, biodiversity and climate change, inspiring us to work together to solve the challenges our environment faces by reinstating woodlands, conserving habitats and protecting our coastline.

Environmental conservation offers a host of exciting career options for people who want to protect the environment and help other people enjoy it in a sustainable way. Whether you want to work in your local park, a nature reserve, our beautiful countryside or work on conservation around the world, if you’re interested in science, like working outdoors or want to help find answers to the big environmental questions we face, this diverse industry may the place for you.

• Over 60,000 people are employed in conservation and environmental roles in the UK, with a further 190,000 engaged as volunteers

• Between 2000 and 2019, the amount of time volunteers contributed to conservation activities in the UK increased by 61%

• The UK Government has committed to protect 30% of the UK’s land by 2030 to support biodiversity

• The report 'Ireland’s Environment: An Integrated Assessment 2020' outlines the state of Ireland’s environment at a strategic and national level, and planned responses to current and emerging environmental issues

Trees don’t only bring pleasure to millions of us – they provide a broad range of career options to help manage habitats and fight climate change.

Woodlands and forests enhance and support our lives. Trees absorb and store carbon dioxide, provide wood, moderate climate, help regulate our supply of fresh water, prevent erosion and flooding, provide a wide range of habitats for people and wildlife, and bring huge pleasure and wellbeing to millions.

Forestry and timber also play a major role in developing a low carbon economy: planting new trees offsets emissions and helps lock-up carbon in construction. Each nation has their own tree-planting strategy and target to help achieve their net zero goals.

Careers tend to split into two main areas. Forestry is the science and practice of planting, managing and harvesting forests for wood and timber, while arboriculture involves cultivating and managing trees in urban environments, like parks, community spaces and private properties. While there’s some overlap in skills, foresters tend to manage forests and timber on a larger scale while arborists look after trees in smaller green spaces. Both options offer diverse, challenging career opportunities.

• The area of woodland in the United Kingdom is estimated to be 3.2 million hectares

• The UK has a tree-planting target of 30,000 hectares a year by 2024 – the equivalent of at least 90 million trees

• 69% of the UK population visited woodland in 2021

• In the Republic of Ireland, the area of forest is estimated to be 770,020 ha or 11% of the total land area of Ireland - over 50% of this is in public ownership, mainly through Coillte

The UK and Republic of Ireland’s highways don’t just keep people and goods moving safely and efficiently – they offer lots of interesting career opportunities too.

Building and maintaining the UK’s highways is a huge undertaking. According to the RAC, there over 32,000 miles of major roads in the UK, making up 13% of all roads. An efficient, effective highway network is an important part of our economy – roads connect people to employment, health care, education and leisure, particularly in rural communities who depend on roads for economic growth. Keeping our road network in good working order is vital and each nation has its own dedicated road management agency to plan, design, build and operate major roads.

In the Republic of Ireland, the primary and secondary road network is some 5,306km long and is made up of motorways, dual carriageways and single lane roads.

Hundreds of workers carry out road improvements every day, following a carefully planned programme of maintenance. There are also roles available in planning and building new roads, with a variety of career options to help make sure this vital work is carried out safely and efficiently.

• There are almost 32,000 miles of major roads in the UK

• Motorways have the highest average traffic flow with 62,000 vehicles for each mile of motorway per day in 2020

• Public sector spending on roads in the UK reached nearly £11 billion in 2020/21, with the amount spent on roads by local authorities being consistently higher than that spent on national roads

• In the Republic of Ireland, €35bn of funding has been allocated for transport projects until 2030