Future with Forest Sustainable Award 2025 seeks ventures for forests’ health

Future with Forest Association has opened entries for the Future with Forest Sustainable Award 2025, designed to uncover commercially viable ideas that will allow people and forests to coexist a century from now. Announced on 13 June 2025, the award will spotlight entrepreneurs and startups that treat forest space as a source of social, environmental and economic value.

Applicants must present concrete business plans that take place in forests and demonstrate one of four impacts:

• they must create on-site experiences that only a woodland can deliver;
• bridge the gap between urban consumers and mountain communities;
• measurably improve conservation, nature positivity or climate resilience;
• or enhance human well-being through contact with trees and fresh air.

Proposals may range from sensory tourism rooted in Japan’s unique forest ecology to data-driven conservation finance, provided they show a credible path to market and a clear benefit for forests.

Entries will close by 17 August. A two-stage review will follow in late August and September. Finalists will be honoured at an awards ceremony on 29 October. at Kanda Myojin Hall in Tokyo. Winning teams will then spend November through March shaping business road maps with mentors drawn from the organising association and corporate partners. A structured acceleration phase will run from April to September 2026, culminating in a demo day later that year.

Future with Forest believes that helping companies understand and monetise the full value of woodland will unlock new revenue streams while protecting vital ecosystems. The association, founded on the principle of “creating a prosperous future with forests”, already promotes forest bathing, trains local talent and advises municipalities on resource use. Its leaders see the award as the next step in turning Japan’s forest heritage into a globally recognised model of sustainable development.

For full details, including entry guidelines and frequently asked questions, you can find them on Future with Forest’s website.