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
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
- @matthew.boddy
- | He/Him
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @msouthee
- | She / her
Lead Geospatial Analyst/Programmer at Wildlife Conservation Society Canada
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
Researcher in behavioural biology & conservation focussing on wild canids
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @ChrisThouless
- | Dr
Director of Elephant Crisis Fund, Research Director of Save the Elephants
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
I'm a GIS and Remote Sensing specialist with a focus on conservation, currently working as a Visual Data Scientist. I'm passionate about leveraging AI tools to enhance conservation and environmental management efforts.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
Mechanical engineer with a passion for applied UAV systems
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
Forgotten Parks Foundation
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 5 Groups
Based in Australia, in the Blue Mountains and working with WWF-Australia on a new program "Eyes on Country". Working on the interface of tech, conservation and First Nations/Ranger groups.
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 11 Groups
- @EllieW
- | She/Her
- 88 Resources
- 123 Discussions
- 13 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @jahiyaclark
- | she/her
PhD Student at UCSC Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @shahselbe
- | he/him
Conservify
Conservation Technologist, National Geographic Explorer, and Founder of Conservify and FieldKit
- 0 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 18 Groups
Careers
Fully funded PhD in AI biodiversity monitoring
Benno Simmons
Come and do the first research into responsible AI for biodiversity monitoring, developing ways to ensure these AIs are safe, unbiased and accountable.
11 June 2024
Article
New WILDLABS Funding & Finance group
Frank van der Most
WildLabs will soon launch a 'Funding and Finance' group. What would be your wish list for such a group? Would you be interested in co-managing or otherwise helping out?
5 June 2024
Funding
Apply! 2024 Conservation Tech Award
Jordan Steward
Now accepting applications for two $15,000 grants to help protect wildlife through cutting-edge, technology-driven efforts
3 June 2024
Article
Share Your Work in a Conservation Technology Video
Robin Marti Sarasa
Do you have photos and videos of your conservation tech work? We want to include them in a conservation technology showcase video
17 May 2024
Careers
Save the Elephants is seeking a Principal Investigator for our Elephant Collective Behaviour Project. This role will spearhead research initiatives using cutting-edge video analysis tools to study elephant group...
1 May 2024
Article
The Inventory User Guide
Jake Burton
Read in detail about how to use The Inventory, our new living directory of conservation technology tools, organisations, and R&D projects.
1 May 2024
Article
Introducing The Inventory!
Jake Burton
The Inventory is your one-stop shop for conservation technology tools, organisations, and R&D projects. Start contributing to it now!
1 May 2024
Careers
The Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior at its sites in Constance and Radolfzell offers an international, interdisciplinary, and collaborative environment that opens up unique research opportunities. The goal of our...
13 March 2024
Article
Catch up on the conservation tech discussions and events that happened during World Wildlife Day 2024!
7 March 2024
Careers
Machine Learning Postdoc Position, Understory
Ross Davison
Join us to help prevent biodiversity loss! Understory is hiring a postdoc to lead R&D Development on generalizing Computer Vision models for vegetation identification across space/time/phenotypes.
29 February 2024
Article
Cutting edge plant conservation
Ben Nyberg
A game-changing new tool is helping conservationists working with critically endangered cliff plants
9 January 2024
A little off the typical path for Wildlabs - and probably not the sort of drone people typically think about here 😄 - but I find robotic agriculture very interesting, with the potential to greatly reduce use of poison...
29 November 2023
September 2025
event
Louisa Richmond-Coggan
March 2026
January 2023
October 2022
September 2022
event
Stephanie O'Donnell
December 2020
33 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thanks for sharing, @Lot Adding a little more info in case anyone was interested but didn't click through - also, earlybird tickets are still available.... |
|
Drones | 8 years 5 months ago | |
| Hi @twhitten The British Model Flying Association provide a specialist insurance for drone operators who are not using them as a hobby nor for commercial purposes ("... |
|
Drones | 8 years 6 months ago | |
| This is a reminder about the ZSL Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation journal open call for papers on RPAS (aka UAVs)...... |
|
Drones | 8 years 6 months ago | |
| The first WILDLABS Meetup in Cambridge, UK for 2017 comes off the back of this discussion in the drones group. Anyone who has an... |
|
Drones | 8 years 6 months ago | |
| Hi all, I'm currently working on a project to improve forest quality assessments using drones. We would like to get hold of... |
|
Drones | 8 years 7 months ago | |
| Thanks for the link, @jprobert ! Parrot Education Blog's own link also here for reference http://edu.parrot.com/blog/2016/12/06/parrot-pix4d-team-forest-canopy-... |
|
Drones | 8 years 7 months ago | |
| The Parrot/Pix4D Climate innovation grant consists of an award of hardware and software for field research to foster innovation in... |
|
Drones | 8 years 8 months ago | |
| Hi Jprobert, I have been trying to use my Phanton 3 proffessional together with Pix4Dmapper to trial out some forest mapping in Principe Island. if you are interested check... |
|
Drones | 8 years 9 months ago | |
| Colleagues at WWF are working with US agencies in the Northern Great Plains to pilot drones for plague vaccine delivery in... |
|
Drones | 8 years 10 months ago | |
| Hi all, First of all, sorry for this delayed response! Thanks for the info, unfortunately i did not have enough time to inform my friend, but now we know for the next time! ;)... |
|
Drones | 8 years 10 months ago | |
| It takes a serious threat to convince the National Park Service to allow drones in its airspace, and for Puuhonua O Honaunau that was the... |
|
Drones | 8 years 10 months ago | |
| I will not consider karma for conservation, the 3DR Solo instead is much more smart and open source. Ready for more tasks than just a flying camera. Mavic of course is very... |
|
Drones | 8 years 10 months ago |
