In recent years, drone technologies have been explored for a range of applications in conservation including (but not limited to) mapping, biodiversity inventories, antipoaching patrols, wildlife tracking, and fire monitoring. The rise of customizable, open-source drones like those of ArduPilot and OpenROV hold promise for more effective conservation applications, and combined with other monitoring sensors and devices, they are capable of collecting high-resolution data quickly, noninvasively, and at relatively low cost.
However, challenges remain in putting these tools to use. A recent paper reviewing 256 conservation drone projects highlighted some of these major obstacles, ranging from unintended social and ecological consequences of drone operations to still prohibitive costs, both in terms of hardware and in terms of storing and processing large volumes of data. The longstanding challenge of power/battery life remains as well.
If you're considering trying out drones for yourself, and want to explore the possibilities and understand the major conversations happening around this technology, check out these beginner's resources and conversations from across the WILDLABS platform:
Three Resources for Beginners:
- Conservation Technology User Guidelines Issue 5: Drones, World Wildlife Fund | Drones, best practices, ethics, regulations, case studies
- WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Recording: Drones, Craig Elder, Dr. Claire Burke, and Gabriel Levin | Drones, thermal camera, wildlife crime, ML, biologging
- New Paper: Drones and Bornean Orangutan Distribution, Sol Milne | Drones, data analysis, citizen science, community science, primates
Three Forum Threads for Beginners:
- Curious about radio-tracking with drones? | Wildlife Drones, Biologging (5 replies)
- Drones for GIS Best practice Document | Adrian Hughes, Drones (10 replies)
- WWF Conservation Technology Series: Drones in Conservation | Aurélie Shapiro, Drones (7 replies)
Three Tutorials for Beginners:
- How do I use a drone to capture radio-tracking data? | Debbie Saunders, Tech Tutors
- How do I choose the right drone for my conservation goals? | Shashank Srinivasan, Tech Tutors
- How do I strategically allocate drones for conservation? | Elizabeth Bondi, Tech Tutors
Want to know more about using drones, and learn from experts in the WILDLABS community? Make sure you join the conversation in our Drones group!
*Header photo: Parker Levinson, Point Blue Conservation Science
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University of British Columbia
Postdoc at UBC, exploring how drones enhance wildlife conservation using thermal cameras & AI tools to refine monitoring of large mammal populations in Canada & compare these approaches to traditional methods.
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- @Fatuma
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I aim to transition my career towards conservation technology after gaining two years of experience in the tech industry.
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- @Heloise
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Bio-acoustician, marine biologist, marine mammal specialist, drone enthusiast
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- @DibblexLesalon
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Dibblex Lesalon is the visionary force behind the captivating podcast, Boots on the Ground, he is the Creative Lead, embracing the power of one-on-one conversations to amplify the voices for conservation. A masterful host, he orchestrates compelling dialogues and seamlessly navig
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Researcher interested in waterbird ecology and conservation
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Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
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University of Salford
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- @ryanhuang
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Conservation scientist based in Pretoria, South Africa
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Neuroscientist & engineer looking for a data/R&D role in conservation.
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- @hyodopenguin
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I am currently a rising junior at UC Berkeley studying data science. I hope to apply data with biodiversity, especially by utilizing camera traps for species classification. People in conservation tech are truly living my dream careers, and I can't wait to get even more inspired!
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- @Slater
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I am the Conservation Science Director at HawkWatch International, where I've worked since 2006. My work focuses mainly on conservation and research of Golden Eagles, including nesting, tracking, and winter ecology.
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Article
New technologies offer a lot of potential for conservation, but are there potential risks to deploying these new technologies? In this first thought piece for the Ethics of Conservation Tech Group, Dr Chris Sandbrook...
2 November 2015
September 2025
event
Louisa Richmond-Coggan
March 2026
November 2023
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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| hi Stephen, Kites have gimbals too (ranging from simple strings to metal rigs) and you can connect to a camera much like a drone. In my case I have a gimbal... |
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Drones | 7 years 4 months ago | |
| Hi Chris, Your project sounds interesting! How's it coming along? I'm based in the SF Bay Area. I don't have much drone experience, but it's something... |
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Drones | 7 years 8 months ago | |
| Hi, I would like to share this article with good social reflections about drones and mapping: https://forestcompass.org/drones-pros-... |
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Drones | 7 years 8 months ago | |
| Excellent - started reading this yesterday. This is a very timely and pertinent paper. Thanks for sharing. |
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Drones | 8 years ago | |
| Hi Mazidi, all the systems that I recommended are separate systems with their own GPS, not connected to the drone. Just the last one was the only finished product. Good luck... |
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Drones | 8 years ago | |
| The European Space Agency have an exciting funding opportunity coming up and got in touch with us to ask that we share it with you,... |
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Drones | 8 years 1 month ago | |
| For those who couldn't make it to the webinar, there's a recording at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0smOWFNRzuoLXpPSWREUnE2YzA/view. What do people think? Is this the... |
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Drones | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| People in this thread might be interested in this special issue of remote sensing in ecology and conservation, looking for papers on "New Approaches to Citizen Science... |
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Drones | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| Cool! Thanks @Tomas Starnes. Meanwhile, http://precisionmapper.com/ has adopted the freemium model, so the first 60 maps by year are free, It's not open source but... |
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Drones | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| Hey @ahughes_rspb , thanks for starting this thread! It would be really useful to share experience on GCPs in particular. We're about to start experimenting by... |
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Drones | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| Hi Marcelo, To improve autonomy, you'll either need less weight on your drone, better batteries, or what about a fixed wing aircraft? Look at the parrot disco - it... |
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Drones | 8 years 4 months ago | |
| This is really fascinating! This could also be potentially useful as a way to distribute vaccines for wildlife and livestock! |
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Drones | 8 years 4 months ago |
