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
- @Harsha
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I am a marine biologist / acoustic ecologist from Australia. Fascinated by bioacoustics, I always look forward to learning from people in conservation!
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- @adamsteer
- | Dr/He/Him
Researcher and consultant focused on snow, ice and landscapes, drone pilot, lidar and airborne remote sensing analyst. Based in Australia, thinks a lot about connected systems in mountain and polar landscapes. Open source geospatial specialist.
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- @Adwait
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Postdoc at Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour
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Holder of BSc in Applied Zoology. Assistant Ecologist at Ruaha National park.
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- @sarah_dalrymple
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Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
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- @jenlaw
- | She/Her
Biodiversity scientist specialising specialising in the study of tropical ecosystems and their biodiversity using multiple forms of technology, including acoustics, images and robotics.
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- @lampros
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I am a Data and Remote Sensing Analyst specializing in programming (R, Python) at Monopteryx, contributor to open-source projects related to machine-, deep-learning, remote sensing and interested in Biodiversity
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- @Riley
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I'm a Data Scientist at Western EcoSystems Technology. I am interested in AI processing and statistical modeling of acoustic data and camera trap and drone imagery.
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- @parlaynu
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software engineer
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Arribada Initiative
Director at Arribada, a UK-based conservation technology research & development organisation
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Careers
Hardware Lead - Biodiversity / Conservation
Ben Williamson
New role at Pivotal Earth
4 April 2023
Article
New paper in Journal of Animal Ecology
24 March 2023
Link
We used a combination of high-resolution satellite tracking (Fastloc-GPS), uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys, and capture-mark-recapture approaches to assess the abundance of immature hawksbill (Eretmochelys...
21 March 2023
Article
Discover how drones are revolutionising conservation efforts and learn five essential tips to fly responsibly and minimise harm to wildlife, humans, and the environment.
14 March 2023
Careers
Proposals wanted for Innovation in Practice
Ellie Warren
The Innovation in Practice edition of Methods in Ecology and Evolution is still seeking proposals about conservation technology
6 March 2023
Interesting article that links to research on how technology has made studying moose populations easier, with particularly good explanation of what makes moose populations difficult to track.
22 February 2023
Careers
The Environmental Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich welcomes applications for a postdoctoral fellowship on robotics methods for the collection of environmental DNA to automate monitoring of biodiversity in terrestrial...
12 February 2023
Link
How daredevil drones find nearly extinct plants hiding in cliffs
Stephanie O'Donnell
Nice article about one of the Rainforest XPrize semifinalist teams - using drones to sample plant species. 'Nyberg and the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) team, working with the State of Hawaii's Division of...
10 February 2023
Careers
Consultancy opportunity: Wildlife monitoring specialist
Anthony Dancer
Consultancy opportunity at ZSL for an experienced monitoring specialist to support species monitoring in rewilding landscapes across Europe
31 January 2023
Careers
Conservation Technology Intern (Vietnam)
Meredith Palmer
WILDLABS and Fauna & Flora International are seeking an early career Vietnamese conservationist for 12-month paid internship position to grow and support the Southeast Asia regional community in our global...
11 January 2023
We are developing a project in Thailand, using drones to locate lost & discarded fishing gear across Koh Phangan, Thailand. We're 86% there & only need $1500 to get us over the line. If you can help us, we...
18 December 2022
Careers
12 PhD Positions - WildDrone
Jake Burton
The WildDrone team are looking for 12 PhD candidates to join the "WildDrone - Autonomous Drones for Nature Conservation Missions" Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network
1 December 2022
April 2024
event
Wildlife Drones
December 2023
33 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi Simon,We (Reneco International Wildlife Consultants) have an ongoing collaboration with a local University (Abu Dhabi, UAE) for developing AI tools (cameratrap/drone... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Connectivity, Drones, Early Career, eDNA & Genomics, Marine Conservation, Protected Area Management Tools, Sensors | 4 months 1 week ago | |
| Thank you David, a phenomenal source! |
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Drones, Geospatial, Protected Area Management Tools | 4 months 3 weeks ago | |
| I've used both Dronelink and Litchi for flight planning with my DJI Mini SE - and then stitched in WebODM. Both apps support most DJI drones that have a suporting SDK. I'm not... |
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Drones | 5 months ago | |
| Hi Matthew Wow, what an amazing project! It is incredible how you have managed to figure out some of the complexities of combining underwater imagery with UAV imagery. I am... |
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Drones, Geospatial, Marine Conservation, Protected Area Management Tools | 5 months ago | |
| Hats off to your team for this absolute game-changing technology! We rescue stray and wild animals in Taiwan, and the bulk of our work is saving animals maimed by wire snares... |
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AI for Conservation, Drones, Emerging Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Wildlife Crime | 6 months ago | |
| Adrian,Many thanks for v2.0 of the GIS best practices document. How does one obtain a copy of the RSPB code of practice B09 referenced in the best practices document? The link in... |
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Drones | 6 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Hi,I wonder if anyone could provide a synopsis of where drone tech currently sites for autonomous usage and AI implementation for surveys... |
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Drones | 6 months 3 weeks ago | |
| No problem at all Yu (@JY) and good luck with your studies! Happy to discuss this and any other ideas any time.All the best,Rob |
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Sensors, Animal Movement, Connectivity, Drones, Open Source Solutions, Emerging Tech | 6 months 4 weeks ago | |
| 180m is indeed very high and from above. I think a 640x512 thermal sensor with a 70mm lens can see animals at at 180m from sideways and could recognise something as a deer, but... |
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Drones, Human-Wildlife Conflict | 7 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Hi @benweinstein !Surely a general detector might be very useful for detecting objects in aerial imagery! Maybe something similar to what MegaDetector does in camera trap images,... |
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AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions, Protected Area Management Tools, Drones, Geospatial | 8 months 2 weeks ago | |
| RealityCapture is now free to use for students, educators, and hobbyists and for companies making less than $1 million USD/year.Best regards!Steffen |
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Drones | 9 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Hi all,maybe it helps 😉 My free manual 'Drones in Biomonitoring' - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8077113 can help to get (more) knowledge how to proceed easily and successfully... |
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Drones, Marine Conservation, Wildlife Crime | 9 months 2 weeks ago |
SnotBots: Can drones transform whale conservation?
25 February 2016 12:00am
Bringing Conservation Technology to Life
17 February 2016 12:00am
PhD Positions: UAVs and Wild Animal Tracking Systems
2 February 2016 10:13pm
DJI and Ford launch a competition with $100,000 prize
12 January 2016 2:59pm
Achieving Moonshots: Advancing Humankind and Preserving Nature
22 December 2015 12:00am
Cheap Space, DIY Imaging and Big Data
21 December 2015 12:00am
Drones as elephant deterrent (herding device)
24 November 2015 6:32pm
17 December 2015 6:43pm
True, but ideal the navigation system would need to be more interactive to be able to respond to the elephant movements in real-time.
The Social Lives of Conservation Technologies and Why They Matter
2 November 2015 12:00am
17 December 2015 6:39pm
Hi Dave,
I believe with any DJI drones you can plot out the course of a drone and let it fly along the route with you controling the speed and height of the drone. The limitation is that it has to eb within a mile of the pilot.
Regards,
John