"The tree planter". What is that? Where does a tree planter work? Is it a real profession? What does his everyday life look like? We investigated these questions and introduce you: The tree planter.
A tree planter? That exists?
Indeed there is, and we at NIKIN are very happy about it. Tree planters are people who plant trees - full-time or part-time. How does one come to work as a tree planter? What does the work look like? What is the daily routine of these amazing people who replenish forests around the world?
We looked into the matter and can tell you a bit about it.
How do you become a tree planter?
Well, it's not really an apprenticeship. Most planters have come into contact with the job at some point through acquaintances or life partners, because the companies that plant trees hardly hire "beginners" anymore. After a few days and weeks as a newcomer, with aching bones and muscles and in the big "family" of colleagues, you eventually start to love the work. Being outside. In nature. Doing something meaningful. However, many growers agree that you have to keep an eye on the financial aspect. For many, the first "season" is not yet worth it; beginners are simply not quick enough to get a Tree into the ground. But from the second season onwards, it increasingly pays off. Because, despite all the idealism, you have to be able to make a living from it.
Where do tree planters actually work?
Basically, there are reforestation activities around the world, but they are more or less extensive. Canada stands out here, with extensive activities in British Columbia and the province of Ontario, for example. As the areas of operation are globally dispersed, tree planters can be permanently employed - if they want to be. However, many of them work seasonally for two to four months.
The everyday life of a tree planter
A normal working day for a tree planter starts very early - often at five o'clock. For Canadian tree planters, this means getting up in freezing temperatures, even in spring and summer. After a sumptuous two-hour buffet breakfast, it's off to the luxury bus ... Wait, stop, that was humor! The normal tree planter makes sure he gets breakfast and a coffee, because it's time to collect at six o'clock. Before that, you have to make sure you pack everything you need for the day, i.e. water, lunch, sunscreen, rain protection, planting gloves... you have to get into a routine. Because tree planters are always working. No matter whether it's raining, hailing, snowing or the sun is blazing down from the sky. Newcomers quickly learn to fix their shoelaces with tape so that they don't have to tie their shoes again and again, and to wrap their fingers in their work gloves with tape. You also have to get used to the elements and the wildlife. It's perfectly normal to be accompanied by insects most of the time, and in some parts of the world the fauna can get bigger - Canadian tree planters can expect to have curious brown bears peering over their shoulders.
Buses distribute the workers to their posts in the morning. Usually groups of 30 - 40 tree planters work together and are set out in teams of two. Together with the trees. Lots of trees. While beginners are already proud and happy when they plant 100 trees a day, experienced planters manage significantly more - 600 trees, for example.
A backbreaking job for the environment
It goes without saying that you are tired in the evening. Nevertheless, many tree planters - and these are people who work for a living, not out of idealism - feel that they are making an important contribution. That their work helps to minimize environmental damage.
Probably the most rewarding factor of the job, however, is that you learn to overcome enormous challenges. The newcomers, who struggle with aches and pains all over their bodies in the first few days, feel at the end of the season that they have proved something to themselves. Because it's hard, difficult work, carried out in all weathers. A back-breaking job. Those who stick with it love it. When they occasionally go "home" to the city, they miss the trees, the sound of the wind in the branches, the immediacy of the weather and the harmony with nature. The feeling of being grounded.
Tree planter - an important unknown job
Why should we plant more trees? Trees are important. They provide us with clean, oxygen-rich air to breathe and give us and numerous animal species a natural habitat. Trees counteract soil erosion and the greenhouse effect. We leave trees to our children.
Experienced tree planters have planted more than half a million trees in the course of their work. Let us thank them for this!
