Waiblingen, 22.05.2025 | Corporate Press Release

The reforestation of degraded areas is an effective instrument for binding CO₂. However, there is often a lack of reliable data on how much CO₂ is actually bound in the planted trees on the land in the long term. STIHL is meeting this challenge with a new digital tool that sets new standards: the TREEO Impact Storyboard. The online tool, developed together with the startup TREEO, shows for the first time in detail how much CO₂ is stored in STIHL reforestation projects - tree by tree, verifiable and transparent. The new application is a central topic in the new STIHL Sustainability Report 2024, which was published today.

For many years, STIHL has been involved in reforestation projects in Uganda and Indonesia on Borneo together with the NGO Fairventures Worldwide, with the aim of making a long-term measurable contribution to climate protection through nature-based solutions. The storyboard, which was developed in cooperation with the start-up TREEO, now makes this work even more transparent: An interactive world map shows the individual planting areas, the number of trees and the measured amount of carbon stored - with ongoing updates based on monitoring data collected annually. "With the TREEO Storyboard, we are creating unprecedented transparency about the actual CO₂ storage of our reforestation projects. This is an important step in making the impact of our measures visible," says Dr. Friedemann Stock, Sustainability Officer at STIHL.

Storyboard shows stories and people

Why “storyboard”? The platform not only provides figures, data and facts, but also insights into the stories behind the projects - with pictures, videos and portraits of the people involved. This turns a dry CO₂ report into a lively picture of the development of reforestation projects. “The crux of many reforestation projects is that companies pay for the planting - but after a few years, nobody knows whether the forest still exists,” explains Dr. Stefan Ferber, Managing Director and co-founder of TREEO. “With TREEO, we create traceability over the entire lifespan of the trees.”

The storyboard shows the number of trees as well as the currently measured and predicted CO₂ storage level. Currently, over 912,000 trees on around 3,100 hectares are digitally recorded - with a total sequestration of 8,904 tons of carbon (since the last measurement at the beginning of 2025).

The TREEO storyboard is based on an app used by the participating smallholders to measure their trees every year: With the help of a reference map, photos and GPS data, the CO₂ storage capacity is calculated for each individual tree. The data is then validated - for example using satellite images, drone images and on-site inspections - and stored in a database. STIHL's projects currently digitally record over 912,000 trees on around 3,100 hectares, with a documented sequestration of 8,904 tons of CO₂ (as of January 2025). The storyboard can be found here: https://dashboard.treeo.one/stihl

Progress in the focus areas of ecosystems, circularity and care

The TREEO dashboard is part of a wide range of measures that STIHL uses to pursue its sustainability goals. The Sustainability Report 2024 published today provides a comprehensive overview of these activities and shows the company's progress in the three focus areas of ecosystems, circularity and care. All measures, strategic approaches and objectives are described in the report. The report was prepared in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and is available online: https://nachhaltigkeitsbericht.stihl.de/2024

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