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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Tunisian marine ecologist
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Director of Icoteq Ltd, an electronics and software design consultancy developing wireless products and solutions to organisations working in the conservation, wildlife monitoring and anti-poaching sectors. Developers of the TagRanger® novel wildlife tracking products.
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- @tom_august
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Computational ecologist with interests in computer vision, citizen science, open science, drones, acoustics, data viz, software engineering, public engagement
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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
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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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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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Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
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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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Community Announcement
Whether you spent the last year working in the field, lab, at home, or virtually, the WILDLABS community's conservation tech achievements were on full display in our annual #Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge! Relive our...
25 March 2021
Community Announcement
WILDLABS Community Call Recording: Rainforest X-PRIZE
WILDLABS Admin
Our second WILDLABS Community Call took place on April 1st to continue the discussion started by Ben Tregenna in our Data Science group, in which he suggested the idea of submitting a collaborative entry to the X-Prize...
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| This is a just an amazing project and career,we have a similar project here in kenya, i will be looking forwad for a cooperation with you to engage our kids and expand our... |
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Animal Movement, Drones, Emerging Tech, Human-Wildlife Coexistence | 44 seconds ago | |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Drones, Emerging Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors, Sustainable Fishing Challenges, Wildlife Crime | 1 month 4 weeks ago | |
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Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Emerging Tech, Geospatial, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Marine Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 1 week 6 days ago | |
| This is awesome!! |
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Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Emerging Tech, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions | 2 weeks ago | |
| Thank you for sharing. Would love to learn bit more about the data workflow. Last year I tired to using QGIS and few existing models to count the birds from orthomosaics of... |
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Drones, Latin America Community | 1 month ago | |
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Drones, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Emerging Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 1 month 1 week ago | |
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Drones, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data Management & Mobilisation, Emerging Tech, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions | 4 months 1 week ago | |
| Thank you for your reply, ChadI meant 10 as a whole, indeed. Perhaps you see your post in one group, but since it is tagged for all groups, I assumed you meant 10 in total.In your... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Community Base, Connectivity, Drones, eDNA & Genomics, Emerging Tech, Funding and Finance, Geospatial, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Software Development, Wildlife Crime | 2 months 1 week ago | |
| Thank you for your comment Chris! Using these tools has made a huge difference in the way we can monitor and manage Invasive Alien Vegetation. I hope you are able to integrate... |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Geospatial, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Open Source Solutions | 2 months 1 week ago | |
| I would love to hear updates on this if you have a mailing list or list of intersted parties! |
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AI for Conservation, Community Base, Drones, Latin America Community, Marine Conservation, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 2 months 1 week ago | |
| True, the US ecosystem is a challenging space right now, for basically all sectors. We should not let the US chaos prevent us from engaging with opportunities in other... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Connectivity, Drones, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 4 months 1 week ago | |
| Not the same equipment, but at work I have used Metashape with DJI drones with an IR sensor (Mavic 3 Thermal, Matrice 3DT, Matrice 4T, etc) and the workflow to create IR maps... |
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Drones | 3 months ago |
