World’s first tree harvested by a drone in a real forest

Thinning is one of the most important interventions in forestry. Removing the right trees at the right time allows the remaining forest to grow faster, stronger, and become more valuable. With AirForestry’s system, our research indicates an increasing timber yield by up to 8% over a full rotation cycle. Today, more than 20% of the forest floor is clear-cut just to carve a path for the ground machinery to reach the trees. Our system never touches the forest floor.

Ground machines weigh 20 tons to fell trees weighing just 80 kg. The soil compaction, root damage, and disrupted water flows that follow cost forest owners billions every year. AirForestry’s electric drones operate from the air: no ground contact, no logging trails, no diesel.