The best projects need the best supervisors

29 May 2023

Arboriculture is a highly specialised trade and the demands on supervisors are also highly specialised. That’s why Primary ITO | Te Pūkenga has launched a new Level 5 New Zealand Certificate in Arboriculture Supervisory Operations strand.


Sector manager for arboriculture Mark Orr says there has been a gap in the learning available for arboriculture supervisors, to sit alongside Primary ITO’s more technical qualifications for the hands-on skills needed to be an arborist, which are already the industry standard.

“Supervising teams in arboriculture isn’t like many other types of team leadership. It still requires great expertise in evaluating trees, understanding plant health and knowing what to do. There’s a whole added dimension in the managing of arboriculture operations,” says Mark.

“Industry decided that what they wanted was to have dedicated training for arboriculture supervisors, in addition to the equally advanced training for hands-on senior arborists.”

Some of the programme specific components include leading, coaching and managing teams, work scheduling, site safety and hazard management.

Applying arboriculture law and planning and managing complex tree work are also included.

“The people who need to enrol in this programme will most likely have already completed Level 3 and 4 qualifications in arboriculture,” says Mark. “Perhaps they’ll be coming to the end of their climbing careers and wanting to move more into the supervisory area.”

The training is suited for supervisors, team leaders, utility managers, and some council staff.

“It can help supervisors avoid problems from poor work and protect trees while construction or other work is happening.”

Mark says another part of the training is applying site-specific tree selection. “Deciding what’s appropriate in a given location, whether that’s conifers, exotics or natives goes a long way to future-proofing the area.”

The programme takes 12 months to complete.

Off-job block courses will be delivered by Wintec | Te Pūkenga and on-the-job learning support will be provided by our team of training advisers.

This new programme is the second of two new arboriculture programmes launched in 2023, with the first focusing on advanced technical skills. Primary ITO has worked with industry for two years to develop the programmes.

For more information or to enrol, complete the contact form below and we’ll connect you with your local arboriculture Training Adviser.