How to become a forestry technician
Official title: Forestry technicians
Also called: Forestry technician, Silviculture technician
Forestry technicians perform technical and supervisory functions in support of forestry research and forest management, harvesting, resource conservation and environmental protection.
Main tasks
- Conducting forest inventories, surveys and field measurements following accepted scientific and operational procedures
- Assisting in and performing technical functions in the preparation of forest management and harvest plans using photogrammetric and mapping techniques and computerized information systems
- Assisting in planning and supervision of construction of access routes and forest roads
- Implementing, supervising and performing technical functions in silvicultural operations involving site preparation, planting, and tending of tree crops
- Coordinating activities such as timber scaling, forest fire suppression, disease or insect control or pre-commercial thinning of forest stands
- Supervising and performing technical functions in forest harvesting operations
- Ensuring adherence to regulations and policies concerning environmental protection, resource utilization, fire safety and accident prevention
- Supervising forest tree nursery operations
- Providing technical support to forestry research programmes in areas such as tree improvement, seed orchard operations, insect and disease surveys or experimental forestry and forest engineering research
- Preparing forest cultivation and cutting plans
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$27,000 a month
- About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
Do you need a degree to become a forestry technician?
Not always. 41% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Will AI change the work of a forestry technician?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026