Einari Vidgrén Foundation Award for Kaisa Reunanen — The importance of nature management is increasing in harvesting

Kaisa Reunanen has been teaching the fundamentals of forestry and nature management to future machinery operators at South Savo Vocational College in Mikkeli for nearly three decades. According to her, the importance of nature management skills is constantly growing, even though students are often naturally drawn to the machinery and the practical side of harvesting.

Reunanen points out that for a machine operator, nature management is not a sideline but an essential for their professional skills. Yet, according to her, this is something students don’t always fully grasp during their studies. Many students become so fascinated by the machines and their operation that the broader responsibilities of the role are easily overlooked.

“I’ve tried to tell the students that the need for nature management skills is certainly not going to decline during their careers. Instead, the requirements are constantly increasing,” Reunanen says.

According to Reunanen, nature management should be embedded much more deeply into everything they the students do in training. She also points to feedback from the industry, which suggests that there has been too little focus on nature management during training. As a solution, she proposes that the subject should be woven throughout the entire training process, on every single site and in every lesson taught by every instructor.

“Even small actions in harvesting can do a lot of good for nature, as long as you have a keen eye and the right mindset,” she says.

According to Reunanen, the requirements for nature management are also increasingly visible in practical work. For example, she believes the guidelines regarding harvesting during the bird nesting season are demanding for workers, which is why the instructions must be as clear as possible for those out in the field.

Reunanen emphasises that successful nature management requires careful planning well before the machines even arrives on site. In her view, planning cannot be done solely from behind a computer. You have to get out into the forest to see what is genuinely known about the site and what needs to be taken into account.

“It is unreasonable to leave the planning to the harvester operator, given that the demands on them are already high and the work is expected to be productive. When you’re out in the forest in the thick of the work there’s no time to hesitate, so the work instructions must be precise and clear,” she says.

By this autumn, Reunanen will have spent 30 years training future forestry experts at South Savo Vocational College. A career in teaching wasn’t originally in her plans, but she ended up in the role by chance. After moving to Mikkeli, she initially joined the college as a replacement for someone on job alternation leave, thinking it would only be a temporary solution. However, this was not the case.

Over the years, Reunanen has continuously developed her expertise. Alongside her qualification as a forestry technician, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in forestry engineering, a Master’s degree in forestry from the University of Joensuu, and qualifications in career guidance. Her decades of experience are reflected in her strong vision of how the industry is changing and what students will need in the future.

In teaching, seeing her students progress is what keeps Reunanen truly motivated. She says she takes great joy in seeing how the tentative first-year students gradually grow into skilled professionals who view their work in a completely new light.

“Watching the students progress is incredibly rewarding. Every now and then, you witness some truly remarkable growth stories. As a rule, working with the students far outweighs the institutional bureaucracy, and the practical work with them is what makes this job so rewarding,” Reunanen says.