Gender Equality - Forestry is still a male dominated industry

New indicators show unequal forest sector for gender equality– million investment to strengthen work

Eight out of eleven indicators of gender equality in the forest sector show male dominance. This is shown in the first compilation of the Forest Sector’s gender equality indicators, which was presented today.

80,000 Hours

That’s a remarkable amount of work hours for a single machine, the Norcar 600 owned by Erkki Rinne is taken well care of, it even has the original Diesel engine.
Kieran Anders Forestry

Kieran Anders is a forestry contractor working in the lake district. His work involves hand cutting and extracting timber using a skidder and tractor-trailer forwarder.
Promoting safety in the workplace

It is not possible to eliminate chain shot, but there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.
Glasfryn Fencing and Sawmill

Arwel takes great pride in the fact that the mill has no waste whatsoever, “the peelings are used for children’s playgrounds, gardens and for farm animals in barns in the winter and the sawdust has multiple uses in gardens and farms as well.
Keeping Timber Hauliers Safe

Timber hauliers need to encourage young blood in, and also look after the hauliers we have, we need make the sector a safe and positive place to work.

FIND US ON

At the same time, the Forest Sector’s Gender Equality Council has decided on a new million investment for increased gender equality in the forest.

The Forest Sector’s Gender Equality Council, with 35 organisations behind it, was formed in 2022. It is a unique industry initiative and national forum for dialogue and measures with the aim of achieving a gender-equal forest sector. As part of this work, the Council has, for the first time, compiled a number of indicators that show what gender equality looks like in areas such as education, individual ownership and working life. The statistics will be followed up once a year and will provide an overall picture of gender equality work in the sector, now and over time.

Few female machine operators

According to the unique compilation, eight of the eleven indicators show gender inequality. For example, only 3 percent of machine operators are women, something for which there have previously been no statistics. A majority of timber buyers are men, and there is also an imbalance in education. On average, men also own larger areas. (See all indicators in the table below.)

“Diversity and equality are a matter of competitiveness, and our industry has a job to do here. For example, only three per cent of forest machine operators are women in forestry, while the transport sector has around 20 per cent. With joint investments, we can achieve a change that is positive for both people and profitability,” says Lotta Lyrå, CEO of Södra.

Joint investment

At the council meeting, which was held today in Växjö, the Gender Equality Council also decided on an extra investment worth SEK 1 million. A new funding model can ensure the continued work of the Gender Equality Council as an umbrella for gender equality work in the sector. The co-financing strengthens and streamlines the work of developing, coordinating and communicating knowledge about gender equality work.

“When so many actors together show will and strength, I am convinced that we can seriously bring about a change. It is a matter of justice that everyone, regardless of gender, should have the same opportunities to influence forestry, but also to educate themselves and work in the forest sector,” says Herman Sundqvist, Director General of the Swedish Forest Agency.

Indicators	Women	Men
Proportion of women and men who start the forestry programme.	16%	84%
Proportion of women and men who start higher forestry education programmes at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.	33%	67%
Proportion of women and men who start higher forestry education programmes at Linnaeus University.	52%	48%
Proportion of women and men in occupational group/role as machine operator.	3%	97%
Proportion of women and men in occupational group/role as wood buyer/inspector.	14%	86%
Proportion of women and men in senior management teams.	41%	59%
Women’s wages as a percentage of men’s wages in the forest sector. Specialists and advisors in forestry.	98%	—
Women’s wages as a percentage of men’s wages in the forest sector. Forestry worker.	103%	—
Proportion of women and men who are elected representatives in forest owner associations.	32%	68%
Women’s forest holdings in relation to men’s (private forest owners, average and median holdings, latest gender-disaggregated statistics).	25 ha M9 ha Md	40 ha M14ha Md
Proportion of women and men who participate in counselling or similar activity.	30%	70%