Forestry Graduates can minimize deforestation
What made you get into this profession? What's your work all about?
I am a forestry graduate and forests were always my passion. Being a specialised branch of forestry involving technology, this field interests me a lot.
My basic job profile at this moment is to provide technical support to the wood factories of India and south east Asia (China, Vietnam, and Indonesia) for efficient furniture-making.
With deforestation an issue, what's the future like for wood technologists? What are the challenges before wood technologists in India?
With the deforestation issue getting serious, the role and responsibility of a wood technologist is growing as he is the one who can optimise the use of wood in furniture products, mixing it with non-wood fillers or panel products made of local fast-grown cheap wood species. He can thus add value to minimise deforestation.
If I talk about the challenges before wood technologists, these are:
- To optimise the use of wood by using non-wood or panel products with technology to make engineered products.
- The furniture-making sector being quite unorganised in India is a big challenge for a wood technologist to make continuous efforts and bring it to an organised form.
- To introduce and improvise furniture-making technology from handicraft to modern furniture-making, which will increase factory capacities and in turn mean good business for India.
Who should opt for wood technology? What's the scope for wood technologists today in India and other countries?
Forestry graduates who have some passion for furniture and creativity must opt for wood technology. Wood technologists can join wood/ furniture industries, plywood /MDF (medium density fibreboard) industries, buying houses for exports, or as research scholars and scientists in some institutes.
In India, it is very easy for a wood technologist to find jobs in the furniture and plywood-making industry. A person joining as trainee can become a factory manager in a span of five to six years, depending on his skills and hard work.
As far as opportunities outside India are concerned, a wood technologist can explore the job of a technician in the furniture industries of south east Asia, but afterwards. Also, he can explore research activities by PhDs and become a professor or scientist in universities of Europe, New Zealand, USA, Malaysia etc. Also, he can find work in the pulp and paper industry.
Author: Rahat Bano
Date: 4th September, 2010
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