CEnv Profile | Dr Gabriel Hemery, Co-Founder, Sylva Foundation - Forestry, Charity and Science

What does an average day look like?

Early in my career I enjoyed spending a lot of time outdoors in a wide range of activities, from land management (e.g. fencing, livestock husbandry, hay making, tree planting) to biological surveying. Since cofounding the charity which I now manage as Chief Executive, I am quite office-bound, yet that means I only enjoy being outdoors more during fieldtrips and other events.

As a small charity, all of our team needs to fulfil multiple roles, and it’s no exception for me as CEO, from dealing with human resources, to fundraising and reporting to the Charity Commission. I also lead on the charity’s science work which I find very fulfilling as it involves a great deal of partnership working.

How did you get to where you are now?

After graduating with a degree in physical geography I undertook a one-year unaccredited course in nature reserve management. After that year, which provided a great foundation, I was fortunate to meet a philanthropist who asked me to investigate the possibilities of creating a centre dedicated to broadleaved tree research. A six-week assignment turned into a 13-year job, during which I planted c.100,000 trees in research trials across the UK, often working with international partners.

After a short stint as the first Director of Development for the Botanical Society of the British Isles, I had the good fortune again to reconnect with the same philanthropist. Together we agreed that British forestry was in a poor state, with large areas unmanaged and failing to deliver benefits for wildlife, landscape and people. We decided to form a new charity which would invest in innovative ways to tackle some of these issues, and so Sylva Foundation was founded in 2009. I have led the charity as CEO since then.

Outside of my work with Sylva Foundation, I developed a passion for writing books, starting with The New Sylva (Bloomsbury 2014), and since a tryptic of books The Forest Guides (Bloomsbury), The Tree Almanac (Little Brown), with more in the pipeline. I write in my own time.

In what ways does your role consider and protect the environment?

My role with Sylva Foundation is fully focussed on the environment. One of the main ways in which the charity brought innovation to the forestry sector was to develop, from the ground up, an online focussed GIS platform called myForest. The myForest platform now supports some 10,000 landowners across Britain in managing their woodlands to support sustainable forest management, according to the UK Forestry Standard (e.g. soils, landscape, archaeology, biodiversity, economy and more). The charity also develops bespoke tools and services in partnership with government and NGOs. One example is the Woodland Wildlife Tookit, which helps an owner identify the best management approaches for rare and declining woodland wildlife (developed with the RSPB, Butterfly Conservation, Woodland Trust, Plantlife and many more). Recently we developed the Woodland Condition Assessment progressive web app for the Forestry Commission to help landowners assess the condition of a woodland for biodiversity, and to support biodiversity net gain assessments.

Another activity of Sylva Foundation is focussed on our land at the Wood Centre in Oxfordshire where we train and support people making with home-grown timber. Our intention is that this will help drive investment in sustainable woodland management in the UK and reduce reliance on imported timbers (the UK is the third largest timber importer in the world after China and Russia!).

How has your focus on environmental impacts changed over the course of your career?

Yes, early in my career I was personally very focussed on the economic pillar of sustainability. As my career progressed, I became ever more aware of the importance of people: their attitudes, knowledge and awareness of important issues. Without these, I came to realise that the best outcomes for the environment – however well supported by evidence – would not come to much. And so, my research interests gradually developed in social sciences. Now for Sylva Foundation I lead on several social science projects. One of these is Forest Lab which enables woodland managers to engage with researchers by collecting and sharing environmental data, and in the process learn more about their woodlands.

Another major research project I lead on is the British Woodlands Survey (BWS) which launched in 2012 and has attracted many thousands of participants from among the land management sector. The BWS is now providing evidence for government’s Climate Change Committee and to support other key areas including efforts to improve the health and resilience of UK forests to tree pests and diseases.

What part of your job do you find the most exciting?

I think the easy answer would be the variety.

I am deeply satisfied by the scale of impact from our work, knowing that we are able to support landowners and woodland managers right across Great Britain. I enjoy the research elements immensely, not only the collaborative and delivery elements, but also writing and publishing. I also really enjoy with the amazing team we’ve built at Sylva Foundation which is quite unique is having one-third of the team working in web development, one-third foresters, and one-third woodwork professionals, all supported by brilliant people in the centre of the organisation.

What are your 3 top tips for those applying for CEnv?

1. Develop your genuine passion for the environment, and don’t be shy becoming a ‘nerd’ in a focussed area or two. The world needs passionate people with comprehensive knowledge.
2. Build as much real-world experience as you can. Volunteer where possible, and find work where you can, in a good range of different places that offer a variety of experiences. Don’t hurry your professionalism, it is much easier if you have genuinely developed a good level of experience and competence, rather than achieved a bare minimum.
3. Be strategic. Set yourself personal and professional goals. I’m a firm believer in positive thinking, now often referred to as manifestation. For instance, I really wanted to succeed as a published author. I didn’t give up, even though the tide often seemed against me.

Why would you encourage others to aspire to become a CEnv?

Becoming a chartered professional is the pinnacle in a person’s career. Anyone working in the environmental sector will be passionate about sustaining life on this planet, and it will need professional and competent people to make a difference in supporting a sustainable society of the future, reducing climate change and halting the loss of biodiversity. In short, stand up with pride as a Chartered Environmentalist.