Reko works as a Forest Specialist at Metsä Group’s Rauma dis- trict office. He has been Junkkala’s forest specialist since 2017. The two are in regular contact, more or less monthly, to discuss any forest management and felling that need to be carried out. “Many things can be sorted out over the phone, but we try to go for walks in the forest whenever possible,” says Reko. Decision spurred by forest damage Until a dozen years ago Junkkala was not particularly interested in forest management. “I thought I would focus on paid work and would not need to supplement my income by felling forest.” The estate’s trees had an age structure typical of mature forests. The forests had been thinned too conservatively and were quite dense. Other forest management tasks had also been skipped. On 26th December 2011, Cyclone Dagmar swept over western Finland, blowing in gusts of up to 31.5 metres per second. On Junkkala’s estate, the storm damaged a pine stand that had been thinned earlier in the summer, after being left too dense a decade before. “Dagmar wreaked havoc – hundreds of trees were left lying scattered everywhere. I immediately called a relative who worked in a forest management association and asked for advice. Luckily, hardly any trunks had actually snapped.”
Jussi Reko, Forest specialist “I have worked as a Forest Specialist at Metsä Group’s Rauma district office for five years. What I like most about my work is the customers – and that I get to spend part of my workday in the forest.”
Juho Junkkala and Jussi Reko are in regular contact. Whenever possible, they try to go for walks in the forest to discuss any forest management and felling that need to be carried out.
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