Gerson Ndanganeni is an area manager for forestry in Kwazulu Natal for paper giant Mondi BP and is doing the job he loves. Gerson has quickly risen on the corporate ladder and his dream is to one day become general manager for Mondi BP. He tells us more about his job.

Basics

Forester is a position which is sometimes known as Silviculture Forester or Harvesting Forester. The job pays between R15 000 and R20 000 a month.

Job description

A forester essentially manages a forestry plantation, staff and contractors. A forestry manager also has to ensure compliance to the Forestry Service Council (FSC) requirements – in order to sell their product to the required market they have to manage their plantations in an environmentally accepted manner. The other duties include budget-control, conducting quality and safety audits and production planning and adherence to targets.

They also have to maintain good working relations with the local communities –

local communities are their stakeholders through mutual relationship i.e. they offer them employment, allow them to graze their livestock, supply them with firewood. Due to that, they need each other.  Their relationship with them has to be of high quality. Landclaims are threats to the industry’s future existence  and depend on the relationship with the local communities.

Pros and cons of the job

The pros of the job are that you work outside and with nature, as well as with a variety of people. The cons are also many, such as fighting forest fires at night, being on fire- duty standby during the festive season. We sometimes fight fires all night until the early hours of the morning. Sometimes we are out in the plantation for more than two days at a time.

Required studies or experience

To become a forester you have to have a National Diploma (Forestry), B Tech (Forestry) and/or BSc degree (Forestry) and/or Business Degree. Then, in terms of experience a minimum of 5 years in a similar and/or managerial position, In-depth knowledge of FSC certifications, Silviculture and Harvesting are also necessary.

You also have to be computer literate – the business world has changed drastically.  Technology is always being used as the best tool in running the business. (Without those skills it might be a setback). One must be able to manage diversity (South Africa is a diverse country, different racial groups work together, one needs skill that can assist in running the business without offending other races), and have good interpersonal and communication skills, (ability to communicate in local communities’ language – forestry plantations are in most cases in the rural areas, where levels of literacy are low). In order to communicate with them, as they are part of our stakeholders, one needs to learn their language. “The first time I was stationed in the plantation, it was bit difficult as I

Personality type

“An ideal forester is someone who is nature loving as we spend time in the plantations (forests); independent with the ability to work with little supervision; open minded; able to take advice that pours in from various stakeholders; innovative; be willing to try new things and be an extrovert,” says Gerson.

An average day

An average day will entail waking up early in the morning at about 05:00 and driving to the field operations to check on safety and quality. At about 09:00 I will have to attend to the admin issues in the office such as checking on the productivity figures. Other tasks include: doing budget control and expenditure forecast, to discipline or counsel staff to correct irregular activities and answering telephones.

I also meet with staff and contractors, attend to issues pertaining to the running of the plantation, meet with the local community to discuss things like land claims, fire-wood shortage and funds requested for social activities. I will also meet with the local farmers, negotiating the use of common roads and costs involved, and meet with the security officials regarding the plantation.

The best thing about your job

Getting to know different people (local people), managing diverse cultures, making decisions jointly with all stakeholders, mentoring young staff and rate negotiations with the contractors. Facing challenges and be able to work around them – the forestry industry differs from a factory environment as the production is weather-related.  As a manager you learn how to manage your resources around the weather. Decisions must be quick and spontaneous.

The worst thing about your job

Incident/Accident investigation after an injury or death – our vision is to provide a safe environment for the staff, contractors and their employees. It might happen that due to some negligence, human error, etc. people get injured or killed. Should that happen, we have to do a proper investigation to identify the root cause and present findings to management.  If a person is injured because of negligence, disciplinary procedures have to be followed. How do you fire an injured person?

Informing contractors about budget cuts – we might discuss and agree on a certain rate with the contractors and based on the company performance at the time, budget might be cut. Then it will be my responsibility to inform all affected.  The atmosphere might be tense, people losing tempers and becoming emotional, but as the manager I have to bite the bullet and pass the message.

Dealing with the landclaims – some people are not well-informed about the land-claims procedures.  As soon as they hear that a portion of property is under landclaim, they start putting pressure on management. We have to convince them to wait and try to instill logic.

Brenden Nel