Conservation officer
Educate communities to become greener so they can protect and maintain their local environment.
About the job
What it's like
Are you a lover of local wildlife? As a conservation officer, you'll educate communities to adopt greener practices. Your work will protect the environment and help it thrive.
Conservation officers work across a range of locations. You'll likely spend a lot of time around rivers, forests and coastal areas. But you could also find yourself working with buildings, rural land or historical sites.
You'll work with people to educate them on how they can sustain their local environment in their day-to-day lives. Basically, conservation officers promote environmental awareness.
Your daily tasks might include:
advising landowners or the council on how to maintain land in a sustainable way
creating informative resources, like leaflets or displays
working directly with communities to help them understand the issues facing their environment
researching and analysing environmental data
collaborating with trades people, like stonemasons or joiners, to maintain the environment
supporting the training of volunteers
Green job
In this job, you'll be doing work to help the environment. Find out more about green jobs.
Hours
You’ll usually work standard office hours during weekdays, but may need to be flexible depending on project needs or fieldwork.
You might work some evenings or weekends – especially when running community events, surveys or conservation activities.
Your hours may vary if you’re responding to environmental incidents or need to meet deadlines for reports and funding applications.
Environment
You’ll split your time between office-based planning and fieldwork in forests, moorlands, coastal areas or nature reserves.
Expect to work outdoors in all seasons, often in unpredictable weather, monitoring habitats and wildlife or meeting with landowners.
Travel
You'll regularly travel to conservation sites, nature reserves and protected areas within your region.
Occasional overnight stays may be required when working on remote projects or doing fieldwork in remote locations.
Explore more information about this job
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Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- creative
- negotiating
- developing a plan
- attention to detail
- researching
- observation
- written communication
- verbal communication
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Art and Design
History
The qualifications you need will depend on the type of role you want to get into.
You can become a conservation officer with a relevant HNC, HND or Modern Apprenticeship. Although, conservation roles can be quite competitive, so a degree can help your application stand out.
University
A degree can be helpful for getting into this job. You could study subjects such as:
Wildlife and Conservation Management
Environmental Sciences
Geography
Biological Sciences
Zoology
College
Getting qualifications at college, such as an HNC or HND, could help you get a job or progress to more advanced study. Useful subjects include:
Wildlife and Conservation Management
Environmental Management
Environmental Science
Countryside and Environmental Management
Social Sciences
Apprenticeships
Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) mean you learn on the job. You get paid and work towards a qualification at the same time. You might want to consider an MA in Rural Skills.
Work
You can become a conservation officer by getting an entry-level job as a conservation assistant, field surveyor or seasonal access officer. After building considerable experience in this role, you could move into a conservation officer position.
You can use the My World of Work job search to look for job vacancies.
Volunteering in a relevant role can help you build the skills and experience you’ll need to become a conservation officer. Search for opportunities on Volunteer Scotland.
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