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Agriculture, environmental and animal care

Countryside ranger

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Provide daily management, maintenance, conservation and protection of the natural environment and inspire people about the natural environment.

Summary

This occupation is found in organisations that are responsible for managing the countryside, natural environment, community engagement and public access. These cover significant amounts of our country. 25% of England is covered by National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), and more than 350,000 hectares is managed by organisations such as National Trust, Natural England, Wildlife Trusts and RSPB. This includes land which is National Nature Reserves as well as private landed estates, urban and country parks. The types of organisations include local government - unitary, county, district, city, town and parish councils, small and medium businesses, national and local charities such as National Trust, Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, Woodland Trust, Canal and River Trust as well as National Park Authorities, Forestry England and Natural England.

The broad purpose of the occupation is the daily management, maintenance, conservation and protection of the natural environment and to inspire people about the natural environment and encourage them to engage with their local green spaces. This includes a wide range of habitats such as moorland, heathland, wetland, woodland, grassland and coastal and protected landscapes that makes the English countryside, either in an urban or rural environment, both distinctive and special. They organise, supervise and deliver specific land management, conservation and community engagement tasks and manage small scale projects working collaboratively both internally and externally with a wide range of partners, stakeholders, organisations and interest groups as well as creating safe environments where the public can enjoy the countryside and coastline. They carry out challenging work outdoors, in a variety of locations, which may be remote as well as undertaking their role all year round in a variety of weathers. They work with minimal supervision or as part of a broader team.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with organisations such as local AONB's and National Park Authorities, statutory bodies such as Natural England, Historic England, local town and parish councils, community groups and members of the public. Members of the public can include paying customers as well as the public making use of public rights of way, permissive routes and open access land. In addition, employees will work with contractors, volunteers, friends of and corporate groups, who offer time, resources and services to invest in their local environment; and other teams from within their organisations. Also, local landowners and tenants, appointed representatives such as councillors, educational groups, emergency services and local community or other interest groups.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for planning and delivering short and medium term work programmes and small scale projects from creating a new multi-use route to setting up a new grazing project. They allocate resources, staff and volunteers needed for the day to day management of delegated countryside sites, areas or projects that they work on. This includes practical habitat and species conservation and land management, construction and maintenance of boundaries, assets and countryside infrastructure and public access routes. They conduct, evaluate and report on surveys and monitor habitats and species, people and structures and assets. They are responsible for planning, delivering and evaluating high quality environmental interpretation, education and information to promote key messages, increase peoples understanding of the natural environment and encourage people to engage with local green spaces such as public events, educational visits and using social media.

They will respond to major or minor events that impact upon the natural environment, assets or people such as environmental incidents such as landslips, fires or pollution, first aid emergencies, theft of equipment or notifiable or other diseases and pests which affect plant or animal health e.g. Ash Dieback. They will be required to take responsibility for building effective working relationships both internally and externally and delivering their scheduled work activities safely, sustainably, to agreed work programmes and licences, timeframe, quality, budget and ensuring value for money.

A Countryside Ranger is a frontline representative of their organisation and they are expected to display their organisation's values and behaviours, actively engage with the public and respond to customer queries in a positive manner. They will be responsible for managing and complying with health, safety and wellbeing legislation, as well as countryside legislation, organisations policies and procedures and implementing environmental good practice. They are accountable for resources such as vehicles, equipment and materials supplied to carry out their duties. They will be expected to be aware of the safety of others working alongside them or visiting the area.

Typical job titles include

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

K1:

Current legislation including health and safety, codes of practice, and work place policies and procedures relevant to their role and duties for example Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, General Data Protection Regulations, safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults, waste management, risk management and assessment, record keeping and compliance.

K2:

Key UK environmental legislation, land and wildlife designations, permissions and licences relevant to the management of habitats and species and other countryside management works e.g. Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act and Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act.

K3:

Current legislation, planning regulation and legal processes and procedures in relation to managing public rights of way and other public access such as Highways Act, Countryside and Rights of Way Act and Definitive Maps and Statements.

K4:

Ecology including main UK ecosystems, habitats and indicator species and identification and requirements of a complex range of native and invasive species and the relationship between them and the environment in relation to their local area.

K5:

Practical and technical land and habitat management techniques such as felling, pruning, planting, cutting, mowing, coppicing, thinning, spraying and uprooting, livestock grazing and controlling vegetation and invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed and best practice for a range of habitats and species and how to balance conflicting needs.

K6:

Main uses of land in UK such as agriculture, forestry, housing, recreation and their interactions.

K7:

The structure, content, purpose and uses of work programmes, site, habitat and project plans to assist with the day to day and technical management of the delegated countryside sites, areas or projects. For example, habitat action plans, biodiversity action plans.

K8:

Principles of financial management including how to set up and manage a budget and the project management life cycle from business case to implementation including risk assessment, planning, financial management, resources, reporting and evaluation techniques.

K9:

Methods for managing teams, allocating work and delegation and how their team’s work links to the organisational objectives, lines of responsibility and who to speak to if they need to escalate issues.

K10:

The types of UK funding streams relevant to organisational objectives. For example: Countryside Stewardship, farming subsidies, developer contributions and lottery funding.

K11:

Legislation, principles and best practice for the design, construction and management of assets and infrastructure such as steps, ramps, gates, stiles, bridges and drainage; boundaries such as fences, walls and hedges; and public access routes such as public rights of way and permissive access including a technical understanding of their type, usage, cost, lifespan, historic value and relationship with landscape, terrain and regional character.

K12:

Applications for different machinery, tools and equipment for a wide variety of habitat, access or asset management work, and their use e.g. 4WD vehicles, winches and other powered and non-powered tools such as chainsaws, mobile devices and other technology such as GPS and tablets.

K13:

Survey techniques and how to plan surveys, appropriateness of the surveys and techniques and technology used in their implementation for habitats and species, visitors or volunteers, assets and access work.

K14:

How to examine and interpret survey data with particular attention to how this data is used internally such as Ecologists, externally, locally and nationally to assess current populations of flora and fauna and current and future habitat management and visitor management.

K15:

How to recruit, train, supervise, motivate and manage volunteers and staff to maintain good team relations and provide a positive volunteer experience.

K16:

Communication methods used to influence and build effective relationships with colleagues, team members, volunteers, contractors, local community groups such as Friends of groups, interest groups such as British Horse Society, educational and corporate groups, neighbouring landowners, tenants and stakeholders and the public and how to promote the work of their organisation in a positive light.

K17:

Customer service principles including types and needs of different customers (internal and external to the organisation), their expectations and managing conflict.

K18:

The different types of minor and major emergencies and incidents in the sector such as landslips, flooding, snow and ice, fires, pollution, first aid emergencies or theft of equipment. How to manage them including safe working practices, limits of responsibility, organisational and legislative processes and the response/actions needed and how they impact upon the environment, natural habitats, assets and people.

K19:

Notifiable or other pests and diseases relevant to their role which affect plant, animal and human health and reporting procedures and biosecurity measures associated with them e.g. Phytophthora and Ash Dieback.

K20:

The differences between environmental interpretation and information provision and methods of delivery, intended uses and benefits e.g. social media, public events, educational visits and Forest School, interactive displays, guided walks, leaflets and trails.

K21:

How to plan, research, design, analyse and evaluate environmental interpretation and information provision including selecting methods, style and structure best suited to the needs of the audience, location and focus of content.

K22:

The importance of and organisational approaches to performance management and supervisory practices to improve performance.

Technical Educational Products

: ST0926: Countryside ranger (Level 4) Approved for delivery

: HTQAE4001: FdSc Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation Management (Level 5)

Reference:: OCC0926

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £26,558 per year

SOC 2020 code:: 5119 Agricultural and fishing trades n.e.c.

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 5119/03 Countryside and park officers and rangers

S1:

Assess, prioritise, maintain and evaluate a safe working environment following relevant legislation, work place policies and procedures including identifying hazards, assessing risk and minimising risk and implementing and complying with control measures.

S2:

Comply with and ensure others comply with legal requirements, industry regulations and standards and organisational policies, processes, procedures and professional codes and ethics.

S3:

Comply with environmental best practices and procedures and follow sustainability and waste management practices.

S4:

Organise and prioritise environmental and land management work activities such as habitat management, work associated with public access or assets such as bridges and scheduled monuments. This includes assessing tasks, identifying and allocating the required resources to deliver the task effectively and review completed work.

S5:

Manage a range of habitats and species using a variety of specialist techniques and resources which takes account of the local area, habitat, species of flora and fauna and levels of associated protection such as felling, pruning, planting, cutting, mowing, coppicing, thinning, spraying and uprooting, livestock grazing and controlling vegetation and invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed.

S6:

Produce short or medium term work, site, habitat action or small scale project plans for the delegated areas of responsibility for and in line with organisations requirement and based on sound knowledge of ecological principles and in line with relevant legislation.

S7:

Delegate tasks to volunteers/ team members.

S8:

Deliver work and projects on time, to a high standard, using allocated resources, to planned budget, method and quality and represent value for money e.g. environmental and land management, public engagement, interpretation or survey work.

S9:

Manage workload, taking into account competing and changes in priorities and demonstrate problem solving ability.

S10:

Communicate with the correct authorities and seek advice on land, nature conservation and asset management, such as Historic England for Scheduled Monuments or ecologists.

S11:

Organise and prioritise asset and infrastructure construction, maintenance and management works including any surveys and alternative plans.

S12:

Construct, maintain and manage a range of boundaries, public access routes, infrastructure and assets using a variety of specialist techniques, tools, equipment and resources.

S13:

Correctly identify the unique range of native and invasive species and habitats in the geographical area.

S14:

Survey, analyse, communicate and evaluate results for habitats, species and countryside assets.

S15:

Select and use a range of work-based tools, machinery and equipment e.g. 4WD vehicles, trailers, winches and other powered and non-powered tools such as chainsaws, brushcutters, hedge trimmer and hand tools, mobile devices and other technology such as GPS, tablets and cameras.

S16:

Instruct others how to use tools and machinery correctly and safely and ensure operator competence.

S17:

Complete records associated with tools and machinery e.g. maintenance, use, vibration and noise levels etc.

S18:

Engage and communicate clearly and effectively with stakeholders including the public, landowners, tenants, contractors and colleagues.

S19:

Supervise, motivate and work alongside others while undertaking habitat management, construction and maintenance of boundaries, access routes and associated countryside assets.

S20:

Present information to the public and relevant stakeholders on planned works, site designation, its species and habitats and techniques used to manage an area.

S21:

Deal with emergencies and incidents as appropriate within the limits of their responsibility, authority and level of training.

S22:

Design, produce and evaluate various types of environmental interpretation and information provision for a range of audiences.

S23:

Speak in public and engage with a wide range of audiences such as stakeholders e.g. tenants, local community or interest groups, volunteers, educational and corporate groups and members of the public on a range of topics. For example, planned or ongoing habitat or access management, local flora and fauna or history and archaeology of an area.

S24:

Recognise strengths and areas for development, creates SMART objectives in line with organisational objectives, participates in development opportunities and regularly seeks feedback.

S25:

Make decisions based on the organisations principles and relevant and accurate information.

Technical Educational Products

: ST0926: Countryside ranger (Level 4) Approved for delivery

: HTQAE4001: FdSc Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation Management (Level 5)

Reference:: OCC0926

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £26,558 per year

SOC 2020 code:: 5119 Agricultural and fishing trades n.e.c.

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 5119/03 Countryside and park officers and rangers

B1:

Has a self-disciplined, self-motivated, and proactive approach to work.

B2:

Is conscious of time constraints and takes personal responsibility for delivering their work to time and budget.

B3:

Responds positively to feedback and is open to change.

B4:

Considers other perspectives, options and the bigger picture to make a decision and focuses on solutions rather than problems.

B5:

Acts in accordance with the organisational policies, procedures, values and behaviours and in a polite, professional and inclusive manner.

B6:

Communicates effectively - Adapts communication style and medium to suit the audience.

B7:

Acts as an ambassador for the organisation and takes personal responsibility for identifying and addressing the needs of customers and builds effective and collaborative working relationships.

B8:

Proactively promotes and champions health, safety and wellbeing within their organisation.

B9:

Takes personal responsibility for developing knowledge and skills and continually seeks to improve their performance.

B10:

Self awareness - Aware of own knowledge and limits of responsibility and seeks relevant advice and support when appropriate.

B11:

Establishes and promotes respect for the work of the organisation from customers, stakeholders and co-workers.

B12:

Takes a positive approach to working outside in differing weather conditions.

Technical Educational Products

: ST0926: Countryside ranger (Level 4) Approved for delivery

: HTQAE4001: FdSc Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation Management (Level 5)

Reference:: OCC0926

Status:: Approved occupation

Average (median) salary:: £26,558 per year

SOC 2020 code:: 5119 Agricultural and fishing trades n.e.c.

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 5119/03 Countryside and park officers and rangers