The importance of regenerating forests

Sustainable forest management has a long history in Finland. Way back in 1886, the Forest Act was passed to prevent forests being destroyed – and to ensure that they were regenerated and renewed. The idea is that you are allowed to harvest trees as long as the forest always grows back. In practice, this means that whenever a forest owner fells trees, they have to plant new trees on the same land within two or three years to ensure that there will still be a healthy forest in the decades and centuries to come.

Since the majority of forests in Finland are privately owned, they are usually looked after by just a few people. This means that when bigger jobs need to be done, like planting seedlings, friends and family get called in to help out. That’s how I ended up in the middle of a forest, pottiputki in hand, planting spruce seedlings. We had 2 hectares to cover, 3 people to do the work and 3300 seedlings to plant.

I’m happy that I got a chance to help sustain the growth of forests in Finland.

What is a “pottiputki”?

A pottiputki is a tool for planting 1 to 2-year-old tree seedlings. It’s made from a metal tube with a handle at the top and a pointed tip at the bottom. Next to the tip there are also a footrest and a foot pedal which opens the tip. To operate your pottiputki, you find a nice spot to plant your seedling, thump the pointed end into the ground and give it an extra kick using the footrest to make a deep enough hole. Then you drop a seedling in the top of the tube, and use the foot pedal to open the pointed tip. This lets your little seedling slide gently out the tube into its new home.

Once we’d been shown how to use the pottiputki, we each loaded up a basketful of seedlings and set to work.

It’s good to do it yourself

An experienced forester can plant up to 1600 seedlings per day. We were beginners, so between the three of us, we planted all 3300 in about a day and a half. Averaging it out, I probably planted around 1000 new trees and I’m glad I did. It was good to learn what’s actually involved in sustainable forest management and also to do it myself. Hopefully, those seedlings will grow well in the years to come.

While this work was unrelated to the Brandkind Environmental Program, it’s definitely good to plant more trees in the world, and I’m happy that I got a chance to help sustain the growth of forests in Finland.