Heidi’s childhood trees live on as a floor

Knowledge bank

Eleven-time world arm-wrestling champion and married to biathlon champion Björn Ferry. A TV personality with productions such as the children’s program Miljöhjältarna (‘The environment Heroes’) and documentary series Storuman Forever to her name –Heidi Andersson is a familiar name to most people in Sweden.

Through determination and hard work, indomitable energy and an uncompromising message: we have to change the way we live, for the sake of the planet, Andersson has captured the hearts of Sweden. Storuman Forever was an eye-opener for many Swedes, and Her and husband Ferry’s goal of a fossil fuel free life by 2025 has become a promise to the people of Sweden.

However, Andersson is more than a TV and sports personality, she is also an ardent forest lover. Forests have always played an important role in her life, and when she was awarded an honorary doctorate of Forest Sciences by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Ensamheten

The little village of Ensamheten (“Loneliness”) in the far north of Sweden, is not much more than a clearing in the forest, with a few houses and other buildings. This was where Heidi Andersson grew up, and some of her relatives still live there today, including her father Kent, who has worked in the forest all his life.

“He worked for the Swedish National Forest Enterprise, before starting his own company. He’s one of the few manual wood cutters still left today", Andersson explains. “He goes where forestry machinery can’t. On land where there’s not much room or where it’s difficult to fell the trees, or spaces where it’s simply impossible to bring in machinery."

Andersson has clear memories of her childhood, when her father would often come home at the end of the day with a thumping head. Hard work in the forest wasn’t the problem as such, it was the exhaust fumes he inhaled from the chainsaw that gave him headaches. He particularly suffered when working under dense firs, where there was a lack of air circulation.

However, something happened in the late 80s. Word began to spread that there was a new fuel for chainsaws on the market. This fuel was called Aspen, and everyone who tried it noticed the difference.

“He’s been using Aspen ever since, and he feels much better for it,” Andersson says.

“He’s been using Aspen ever since, and he feels much better for it”

In short, Kent Andersson was the kind of person Aspen was developed for – who Roland Elmäng had in mind when performing experiments to develop the fuel. For Andersson, Aspen has been a natural part of forest life for years, and it remains so today.

“We have quite a few different pieces of machinery in my home village of Ensamheten. Saws and planing machines, for example, which we use with Aspen D.”

Andersson used a saw and planing machine when she was felling in her own forest, for example. Because if anyone were to have their own forest, it would be her. When not busy with arm-wrestling, speeches or TV productions, she can often be found in the forest. Planting, felling, thinning or simply enjoying nature.

“This year we’ve planted 25,000 seedlings and carried out a controlled burn. And tomorrow I’m going to lay a floor made from timber we felled, cut and planed at our sawmill in Ensamheten.”

“This year we’ve planted 25,000 seedlings and carried out a controlled burn. And tomorrow I’m going to lay a floor made from timber we felled, cut and planed at our sawmill in Ensamheten.”

The flooring will be locally produced in a way that brings a whole new meaning to the concept. That is to say, it will be made of planks cut from trees grown at the farm in Ensamheten where Andersson grew up. The trees have been felled, cut and planed to create a floor for Lerberg, the cottage Andersson and Ferry are renovating from top to bottom.


When the trees you climbed as a child live on as the floor in your own house, you’ve truly earned the right to talk about nature’s cycle. And this is something Heidi Andersson is proud of.