Sumitomo Forestry has started an initiative to plant fast-growing trees, which have been gaining more attention in recent years. Fast-growing trees are those that grow faster than Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress trees and can be harvested in a shorter felling cycle, and include Chinese fir, bead trees, and willow trees.

The Hyuga Forestry Office is conducting the test planting of Chinese fir and other tree species in the company-owned forests in Kumamoto and Miyazaki Prefectures. By monitoring the growth of the trees, the office staff are examining their potential as a new tree species to be planted for reforestation, with a focus on the reduced frequency of weeding and the comparison of growth speed with Japanese cedar trees.
In addition, the Environment and Resources Division and the Tsukuba Research Institute are cooperating to plant fast-growing broadleaf trees suitable for use as fuel material.

Workers need to carry seedlings weighing roughly 10 kg on their back and also transport other materials again and again when planting Japanese cedar, Japanese cypress and other tree species. Particularly in Japan, the terrain is quite hilly and places a huge physical burden on workers, which makes it difficult to secure a labor force.

That is why Sumitomo Forestry has been advancing the development of drones to transport these seedlings jointly with drone manufacturers and distribution companies that have proven track records in the agricultural field. Repetitive proof-of-concept tests were conducted in the company-owned forests by flying drones safely over complex terrain and in harsh weather to ensure safe drone flight and reliable unloading of seedlings. Based on these tests and various improvements, sales of the Morito Forestry Drone to transport seedlings began throughout Japan in fiscal 2020.

In the course of our sales activities, we have learned that there is a growing need in the field to transport not only seedlings but also heavy materials such as those used to prevent damage by animals, which has been on the rise in recent years. Accordingly, improvements were made on the drone for the transportation of forestry materials, and the maximum loading capacity has been increased from 8 kg in the previous model to 55 kg. In fiscal 2025, we produced a promotional video and brochures as part of our initiative to promote sales of the Morito Forestry Drone, and expanded its sales network.

Forests in Japan often have insufficient forest roads or strip roads in place, which prevent smooth management of forests and transport of harvested wood. Currently, in order to create forest roads or strip roads, lines are drawn by hand over a paper topographical map before visiting the site to see if that plan for the road network can be implemented. This process of examination is usually done over and over again. The reality is that the process of making the plan and checking and verifying it on-site relies heavily on personal intuition and experience, and takes a great deal of time and labor.

Forestry road network design using FRD

FRD is a software application co-developed with Mr. Hiroaki Shirasawa (currently working at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute) to support road network design. It is used to design a network of forest roads and strip roads by utilizing precise topographic data obtained by airborne laser mapping. The main feature is an automatic design function to create the line drawings by inputting the departure and destination sites on the operation screen. Users of the software can create the line drawn plans that can be maintained at low cost based on parameters, including requirements such as longitudinal slope and the curvature radius, width, and operation costs specified in advance. In addition, we have devised a way for the software to recognize dangerous terrain. This software packs the right features necessary for the job, such as allowing the design of safety lines that are less likely to break and safer, avoiding potential collapse and other circumstances when creating a plan. The on-site exploration of the line drawn plans for roadways designed in the software offers efficient on-site verification. We are currently developing additional features, such as an automatic design function that takes slope stability into account, a function to output data in CAD format, and functions necessary for the utilization of the software in overseas forests.

Sumitomo Forestry has been making improvements and conducting demonstration tests on the winch-assist forestry machine (tether), which was developed jointly with Nippon Caterpillar LLC and other companies using subsidies from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). In 2026, we plan to conduct a demonstration test on-site in Yamanashi Prefecture.

A tether is a forestry machine that assists heavy equipment for logging and hauling out on sloping terrain, pulling the equipment by wire to maintain its stable posture. By using a tether, forestry operations using heavy machinery will become possible on slopes where heavy machinery could not be used previously, which is expected to improve on-site security and productivity.

We will continue to use the forestry machine to improve the safety of operations on sloping terrain and to realize environmentally conscious forestry.

Sumitomo Forestry has been working on the improvement and popularization of remote-type underbrush clearing machinery for use in its forestry business. It is supplied by MDB of Italy and has high crushing ability. Compared with a conventional hand-held machine, workers can do the site preparation work for planting and underbrush clearing work more easily with the machine, which is labor-saving and contributes to higher operational safety as it can be operated remotely.
We introduced the machine for use in our own forests in fiscal 2023 and used the machine for site preparation on land extending over a total of 75 hectares and for clearing underbrush on land extending over a total of 61 hectares in our forest located in Mombetsu as of the end of fiscal 2025.
We are also participating in a consortium to conduct research for the Fukushima Institute for Research, Education and Innovation and are developing the technologies for remote-type site preparation and underbrush clearing machines.