We manage the forest to leave it in a better condition

13 October 2022 International Day of Rural Women

We give the word to people working in forestry, to learn more about their work, what the forest means to them, and how forestry has changed over time.

Monica Persson, a forest owner in southern Sweden, shares her personal story, what a difference sustainable forest management has made in her forest, and how priorities have changed.

What does the forest mean to you, both professionally and personally

Nature and the forest are my biggest passions – passions that I also share with my husband, we are both forest technicians. Our forest has been in the family for 14 generations and is on its way into the 15^th.

It feels important to us to manage the forest in a way so that we can leave it in a better condition for the next generation than it was when we first took over.

Our homestead is in the very south of Sweden. 100 years ago, the estate consisted of 540 hectares of heathland and pine groves. Now, the standing timber volume reaches 220 m³ per hectare. It has given us great pleasure to follow the development that has occurred during our 50 years of managing the forest.

Professionally, the forest has been our main workplace and source of income. It has also given me the opportunity to engage in different environmental topics within forestry. 

Why did you choose your career in forestry?

After trying different career paths, I chose to go into forestry. It felt natural and familiar because of my family’s background in farming, and my father’s involvement in forestry. The conversations around the dinner table made an impact on me, and finally, having a career that allowed me to spend time outdoors made the decision easy.

Has your work changed over time?

Over the years, the manual forest operations have been more and more replaced by mechanization. My main focus over the years has been silviculture; planting and pre-commercial thinning. The planning of the work has changed: now we focus more on biodiversity and the environmental impact and not only on production.

What are the challenges of the forestry sector in your country?

Climate change has been discussed a lot over the last 40 years and has brought challenges into the forestry sector, such as the need to use species other than spruce. In my opinion that is a welcome shift, since spruce has been too dominant in the past.

A more varied approach to forest management is a necessity when it comes to species, nature, and water conservation. Management regimes based on selective logging, however, are a big challenge for us since the methods are less proven.

There may be issues with mechanization, and we will end up with a dominance of spruce yet again.