Jaano Haidla was elected Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Forestry and Wood Industry Association

Graanul Invest´s board member Jaano Haidla was elected as the new Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Forestry and Wood Industry Association. The new chairman has worked in various wood sector areas, having experience in the furniture, saw, plywood, and pellet industries. According to Haidla, the most important goal of the association is to ensure that every tree taken from the forest creates value for people and the environment in the best possible way.

“There is one economic sector in Estonia today that is carbon binding, not emitting – our wood industry. Thanks to its digitization and automation, this sector has been able to do well even in global competition. As the new chairman of the board, I wish to ensure that in the future, every tree taken from Estonian forests creates the best value for people and the environment, replacing for example, oil, plastic, steel, or gas. All wood stocked from our forests is valorized, giving each assortment the highest value possible, so that even leftovers, from sawdust to wood dust, find use as a product. High-quality lumber allows the carbon to be removed from the natural cycle and stored in the furniture and construction industry for a long time. For us, Estonians, wood is a well-known material to make furniture or build houses,” says Haidla.

The board of the Estonian Forest and Wood Industry Association includes: Ando Jukk – Estonian Plywood AS, Ivar Dembovski – Rait AS, Jaak Nigul – Tarmeko Spoon AS, Jaan Kers – TalTech, Jüri Külvik – Lemeks AS, Lauri Raid – VKG, Linnar Pärn – Estonian University of Life Sciences , Mait Kaup – Warmeston OÜ, Marko Kajandu – Thermory AS, Martti Kork – Barrus AS, Rain Pärn – AS Estonian Cell, Raul Kirjanen – Graanul Invest AS, Silver Rõõmussaar – UPM-Kymmene Otepää OÜ, Tõnu Saaber – Stora Enso Eesti AS, Gert Rahnel – Combiwood group, Meelis Kall – Luua forestry school, Jaano Haidla – Graanul Invest.

The Estonian Forest and Wood Industry Association (EMPL) is a non-profit association founded in 1996 that unites companies mostly related to the wood and forest industry. The Union has 73 members, including four educational institutions providing professional education. The CEO of the association is Henrik Välja.

Companies in the forestry sector contribute to the state budget with tax money in the same order of magnitude as the Estonian state spends on education – more than a billion euros per year. According to the results of Swedbank’s industrial sector survey, the forest and wood industry is the most automated and digitized industry in Estonia. The added value created by the sector accounts for approximately 10% of Estonia’s GDP. Wood-based products are one of the most important balancers of Estonia’s foreign trade balance. EMPL is a member of the European Wood Industry Confederation CEI-Bois.

Jaano Haidla