Environment, Agriculture & Conservation

When you think about the environment, agriculture and conservation, do you picture dreadlocked hippies skipping through fields and living in yurts? Or farmers in tweed flat caps, humming the ‘Combine Harvester Song’ (“Cos I’ve got a brand new combine harvester”)? It might be time you educated yourself.

The environment, agriculture and conservation sector is concerned with how we use, sustain and protect our natural environment. You’d have to be living under rock for the last decade not to know the environment and nature are hot topics. Green is in. Locally sourced food is as trendy as trendy can be, championing ‘buying British’ is all the rage and not recycling is a heinous crime.

Growing environmental concerns and a desire to revive the British agricultural industry has sparked the government and public into action. Companies are desperately touting their green credentials. As a result, an increasing amount of jobs in the environment, agriculture and conservation sector are becoming available.

Green is the golden word in politics. Working in the environment sector will mean you’ll (hopefully) get to turn these green promises into a reality. Many of the major government initiatives in the UK are driven by environmental factors. For instance, the Olympics committee are attempting to make the 2012 games the most environmentally friendly yet and there are numerous initiatives to get us on our bikes, such as London’s cycle hire scheme.

Getting involved in environmental issues has got far more sophisticated than just chaining yourself to a tree. You can be an environmental engineer, economist, scientist, lawyer or ecologist. There are even conservation police officers for crimes against nature.

Agricultural careers are still vital to the UK economy. Obviously, it has a major influence on the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the pharmaceutical products we use. Aside from farmers, growers and horticulturalists, other careers are available in the agriculture sector, such as agricultural consultants, scientists and engineers. So it isn’t all about shearing sheep!

Of course, we mustn’t forget more hands-on environmental, agricultural and conservation work. If the thought of spending your working life in an office is keeping you up at night, you might want to have a look at such ‘non-office-based’ careers as tree surgery and forestry management. It’s not just restricted to land either. Many careers are dedicated to working in marine and other water environments, such as fishery management, coral reef conservation and water pollution control.

So there you have it; there really is more to working in the environment, agriculture and conservation sector than chucking a few cans in the recycling.