Who am I?

My name is Ludvig Essebro, I’m 32 years old and I’ve been working as head of silviculture in the North Region since this summer. I’m based at our newly opened forestry office in Vännäs outside Umeå and my colleagues are spread across Västerbotten, Västernorrland and parts of Jämtland.  

I completed my degree in forest and business management and joined Holmen Forest in 2020. Since then, I’ve had various roles in wood buying, before taking up my new position as head of silviculture this year. 

In my spare time I enjoy sports and right now golf takes up a lot of my free time, at least when it’s not snowed off.

My workplace

As I said, I’m based at Holmen’s office in Vännäs, which is a former bank in the centre of town. There are nine of us here from different functions, so every day sees meetings between wood buyers, conservationists, forestry planners, silviculture supervisors, forestry managers and staff functions. I see it as a great strength that several different parts of the chain are in the same place, where we can all share concerns, successes and experiences.

A typical day at work

In the silviculture department I have a team of seven (plus two substitutes) who take great care to ensure that Holmen’s own forests and those of our customers are prepared, cleared and planted according to plan. This means cooperating closely with our forestry contractors, wood buyers and operational planners.  

For this to work, we need to plan our snow-free season well in advance, so a lot of time is spent on planning at this point in the year. A typical day starts with a team meeting. This could be about anything from ordering seedlings from the nursery to monitoring quality or operational planning for next year. Then it’s time for a meeting with one of our contractors, where we evaluate the past season and talk about plans for the next season. It’s not uncommon for such meetings to come in quick succession, but otherwise the afternoons are devoted to preparing contracts or other work I need to do. 

Why Holmen?

Holmen has a culture that I feel comfortable in. It’s an unpretentious organisation but still with a drive and declared ambition to grow and develop, which means that new ideas and working practices are encouraged and tried out. So, although the company is old and the forest as a resource is very long-term, there is an openness to flexibility and change. I find that challenging and exciting. 

In silviculture, for example, we’re working towards a target of mechanising 50% of our reforestation by 2026. This is a hugely ambitious goal that has already seen us employ a planting machine in Holmen’s own forests in northern Sweden. It’s really exciting to be part of this development! 

Conclusion 

That’s all from me and silviculture. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog!