Woodlands are important for the benefits they provide and there is great interest in creating new woodlands in UK and other countries around the world. This degree focuses on developing the knowledge and skills to manage woodlands to deliver improved biodiversity conservation, public wellbeing, and sustainable production of renewable materials. On this course you will cover woodland management in both a UK and International setting, their role in adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change. We will use a ‘hands-on’ approach to explore the ecological value of woodlands and their broader role in agroecology (i.e. agroforestry). You will also examine the benefits delivered by trees outside woodlands.

This degree will give you an in-depth understanding of the structure and behaviour of woodland ecosystems, the physical, biological and ecological aspects of woodlands and their interactions and variation in time and space.

You will investigate the scientific and socio-economic principles underlying woodland management as well as the physical and biological processes which shape the natural world.

You will also become an expert in sustainable woodland management and the economic and environmental appraisal of woodlands (including design, silviculture, restoration protection and inventory (including both the tree and non-tree components); and you will study the broader role of various forms of woodland system for resilience and as part of broader socio-ecological systems.

Why choose Bangor University for this course?

• We have been teaching about woodlands for more than 110 years, we were the first University in the UK with a degree in this subject.
• Much of our education takes place in woodlands outdoors: we own 82 ha of woodland and visit a wide range of woodlands in Snowdonia.
• Week-long field courses in all three years.
• We have excellent links with woodland organisations in the UK and overseas, who play an important role in our degree programmes, and employ our graduates.

In the first year you will be given an introduction to the structure and ecological function of woodland ecosystems and the basis of their past, current and future management. The second year builds on this and develops your understanding of the scientific and socio-economic principles of woodland management, how woodlands are measured and assessed, woodland health and the role of trees and woodlands in the wider countryside and sustainable land use. In the final year you will develop a woodland management plan, and you will carry out an independent review on a woodland topic that particularly interests you, under the supervision of a member of academic staff. You will study agroforestry and woodland ecology, and have access to the broad range of optional forestry and conservation modules, including a new module on urban woodlands. This degree will provide you with a mix of transferrable skills, current subject-specific knowledge and understanding to equip you for a broad range of careers in and around sustainable woodland management. This is a major growth area and every year we help our graduates to start exciting careers in a whole range of roles across the UK and overseas.

Employers are always looking for forestry graduates who are self-motivated and enjoy working with people. A high proportion of our graduates find a forestry-related job within six months of graduation, and are employed by public, private and non-governmental organisations both in the UK and overseas. Our unique history, reputation and teaching excellence makes Bangor Forestry graduates highly employable.

Conservation at Bangor University spans the breadth of the discipline from the ecology of threatened species to the institutional and economic aspects of conservation. Our location means that you will benefit from being close of an exceptional range of terrestrial, marine and freshwater habitats where field work, which is an integral part of the degree is conducted.

A 'with Foundation Year' option is available for this course. Apply for Environmental Science (with Foundation Year).