The Princess Royal today (Wednesday June 24) presented 25-year-old Holkham forester Mai Sussex with the Bishop of Norwich Sustainable Environment Young Employee of the Year Award.
Mai met Anne, Princess Royal and the Bishop of Norwich at the Royal Norfolk Show and said she was honoured, surprised and really pleased to have won the award.
She began working on the Holkham estate as a trainee forester four years ago, attracted to the role by how the estate champions sustainability.
“If there is a young tree on the estate I’m doing my best to keep it alive,” she said.
“I’ve always loved the outdoors and it’s just a natural extension of that to want to protect the environment, particularly when you are aware of the challenges we face, like climate change,” said Mai. Her role at Holkham is focused on woodland establishment.
The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, who is the Church of England’s lead bishop for the environment, and President of this year’s Royal Norfolk Show, said: “Mai is wonderfully worthy winner. She is acutely aware of our need for more woodland and as she nurtures new saplings she is focusing on how she can contribute towards a better future for the whole planet.
“In the first book of the bible we are told ‘The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.’ It is a joy to see this annual award go to someone who is so keen to see more trees in Norfolk’s landscape.”
Mai plans to use the £1,000 prize money to support her career development and improve her forestry knowledge.
“I am the first forester in my family. My relatives all have quite different jobs,” she said.
She has already helped reduce the amount of herbicide used at Holkham by collecting and analysing data to find the optimum amount needed by young trees.
“Our planet is the only one we have and we are on the cusp at the moment of perhaps some quite terrible events environmentally,” said Mai in a video made as part of her award entry. “It feels like as foresters and agriculturalists we are in a really strong position to enact practical change on the ground and it is really exciting be part of that.
“I’m really passionate about leaving the world a better place than we found it.”
Holkham Head Forester Harry Wakefield praised Mai’s unwavering commitment saying: “She has demonstrated a wealth of knowledge and aptitude in forestry.
“I have found individuals such as Mai to be rare, as she injects enthusiasm, seeks bigger challenges and improves the optics in everything she does.”
The annual Bishop of Norwich Sustainable Environment Young Employee of the Year Award is run with the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association and judged by its education arm The Food and Farming Trust. It is open to young employees and apprentices working for a Norfolk-based employer and focusing on land management, conservation, countryside management, ecology, climate change management, forestry management or horticulture.