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
- @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.
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @Adwait
- | He
Postdoc at Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour
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Holder of BSc in Applied Zoology. Assistant Ecologist at Ruaha National park.
- 0 Resources
- 7 Discussions
- 12 Groups
- @sarah_dalrymple
- | she/her
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
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- 9 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @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.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 14 Groups
- @lampros
- | He/Him
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
- 0 Resources
- 4 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- @Riley
- | she/they
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.
- 2 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- 9 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @parlaynu
- | he/him
software engineer
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 13 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 11 Groups
Arribada Initiative
Director at Arribada, a UK-based conservation technology research & development organisation
- 2 Resources
- 98 Discussions
- 12 Groups
- @Arjun_Viswa
- | S
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- 27 Groups
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi Wildlabbers, Tech Tutors Season 2 continues with our fifth episode, featuring Shashank Srinivasan who will tackle the question... |
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Drones | 4 years 4 months ago | |
| The UFO project is an H2020 programme dedicated to supporting the development of innovative products and services by integrating ... |
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Drones | 4 years 4 months ago | |
| Hi Isla, That's something that the drone world really needs to take on because there can be a world of difference in drone size, prop types and motor types to reduce impact... |
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Drones | 4 years 5 months ago | |
| Hello Shashank, I found your post very interesting - congratulations on looking at the ethical side of this technology! One of the reasons that our organisation,... |
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Drones | 4 years 6 months ago | |
| Very cool, thanks for sharing, Adrian! We'll put this up on Twitter as well. |
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Drones | 4 years 7 months ago | |
| Hi all, Firstly, I'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended my Tech Tutors presentation last month. And secondly, thank you for your patience in allowing... |
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Animal Movement, Drones | 4 years 8 months ago | |
| We are happy to share that we open a worldwide-first research residency in ecosystem restoration with drones and native seeds. Do you... |
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Drones | 4 years 9 months ago | |
| Hi all, There is a conversation underway in the "Ethics of conservation tech" group on best practices for responsible use of... |
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Drones | 4 years 11 months ago | |
| Hi! We've been using our Mavic 2 Pro to create 3d models and volumetric assessments of mangroves. We're learning more about... |
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Drones | 5 years ago | |
| Hi Ruth, Thanks for your email. Essentially the software is only an advantage if the drones are being flown at altitudes that provide a wide area and less visible detail (i.... |
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Drones | 5 years 2 months ago | |
| Hi everyone! We are very excited to announce that the BIRDSAI dataset for conservation drones is now publicly available at https://sites.... |
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Drones as elephant deterrent (herding device)
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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