BillerudKorsnäs adjusts its forestry to the dry weather conditions
At present there are many fires in the forests around Sweden as a result of a prolonged and severe drought, which creates a very high risk of forest fires. Our thoughts goes to those who have been affected, and we would like to extend our gratitude to all those who work in various ways to fight the fires, including our own employees and contractors who work on behalf of us.
At BillerudKorsnäs, we put safety first when working in dry weather. We adapt the operations to the prevailing weather conditions, take great care and assist the emergency service.
Measures for safe forestry
Ever since the dry period began in May, we have taken a series of measures to safely carry on our forestry. BillerudKorsnäs Forestry staff management monitors the development daily and informs how the work is going to be conducted. Local conditions differ widely, making assessments local and in consultation with current entrepreneurs and landowners. The adaptions we make to conduct operations with the highest possible fire safety include to:
- stop all mechanical activities (felling, skidding and land preparation) in areas with extreme fire hazards. Operations are resumed when fire risk is reduced.
- redirect felling and skidding to forests with moist and wet soil with low fire risk.
- conduct felling at night when the humidity is higher and with a firewatch team on the spot, ie people remain in the area several hours after the work is done to check and ensure that no sparking ignited the ground.
In the short term, industrial operations are not affected
We are well prepared and work actively to handle the consequences of the winter's, spring and summer's challenging weather conditions. Our assessment is that the situation in the short term does not affect industrial operations. However, in the long term, if the drought continues, this could affect the availability of forest raw materials.