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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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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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...
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Discover how drones are revolutionising conservation efforts and learn five essential tips to fly responsibly and minimise harm to wildlife, humans, and the environment.
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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.
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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
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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
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Consultancy opportunity: Wildlife monitoring specialist
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Conservation Technology Intern (Vietnam)
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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...
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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...
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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| Hi all! I recently did a little case study using RGB drone data and machine learning to quantify plant health in strawberries. I wanted to... |
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Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Geospatial | 1 week 1 day ago | |
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Latin America Community, Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Drones, Early Career | 2 weeks 6 days ago | ||
| Hi Adam! Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I have not used radar systems or AI systems for this sort of detection, but there are methods using change detection... |
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AI for Conservation, Drones, Wildlife Crime | 1 month ago | |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Connectivity, Drones, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 1 month 1 week ago | |
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Drones | 1 month 1 week ago | |
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Drones, eDNA & Genomics | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
| Good morning JocelynThank you very much for your comment, this is proving to be very useful advice and thank you so much for setting me on the right path!! This is very exciting!!... |
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Animal Movement, Citizen Science, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Marine Conservation, Drones, Community Base, Geospatial | 1 month 4 weeks ago | |
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