Forest Growers Research has announced the first commercial licence from its Precision Silviculture Programme, with Interpine launching TreeTools, a new platform that uses LiDAR and drone imagery to help forest managers assess thinning quality faster and at greater scale.The commercial licence is the first to be delivered through the programme, which is supported by a Primary Sector Growth Fund partnership between MPI and the forest industry.
The launch marks a shift from research trial to commercial deployment of technology designed to solve one of forestry’s persistent challenges, helping forest managers check whether thinning work has achieved the right stocking levels without relying solely on field crews manually measuring trees on site.
Claire Stewart, Precision Silviculture Programme Manager, says TreeTools can reduce the need for extensive fieldwork, potentially lowering costs, improving consistency, and enabling faster decision‑making after thinning operations.
“TreeTools brings Interpine’s remote-sensing capability into two online tools: SilvaCloud, which analyses LiDAR data to count trees and assess stocking across forest blocks, and VirtualPlot, which uses drone imagery to estimate post-thin stocking.”
Claire says confidence in the quality of the data is critical for foresters.
“The testing showed TreeTools can produce stocking results that closely align with field measurements, while reducing the time and cost involved in checking every block on the ground. That means crews can focus field effort where it is most needed.”
The platform was tested against traditional field-based assessments, with drone and LiDAR results aligning within ±5 per cent of manual measurements.
The sector needs tools that improve consistency, reduce avoidable cost, and help managers make decisions sooner. TreeTools is a tangible step in that direction.”
TreeTools is available now at www.treetools.ai, with further development underway for regeneration assessment, chemical thinning, and other silviculture activities.
