Peatland ACTION is piloting a new training scheme to help more people develop the skills to carry out practical peatland restoration.
The six-week New Entrant Machine Operator Training Scheme aims to give people new to the sector the key skills and basic knowledge to pursue a career in peatland restoration. Targeting existing machine operators who have no peatland restoration experience, the training will upskill people in rural communities, giving them the knowledge, and contractor firms the additional workforce needed, to expand their peatland work.
Peatland ACTION will be providing funding to ten contractor businesses under the Peatland ACTION Machine Operator Training Scheme, to upskill new apprentices to diversity their knowledge and expertise in peatland restoration techniques. Apprentices are being placed with the businesses for six weeks of practical, on-site training with more experienced operators, at the end of which they will receive acknowledgement of their new skills that they can use to find work in the sector.