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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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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| Hello, I'm new here. I thought I would share an article that I wrote a couple of years ago about my work with using drones for... |
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Drones | 5 years 3 months ago | |
| Hi everyone, I have a LIDAR sensor (LIDAR USA-Fagerman Technologies-Velodyne puck) and a DJI M-600 drone. I would like to use... |
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Drones | 5 years 4 months ago | |
| Cheers Al, and looking forward to hearing more about them. I am, as we speak, editing some thermal videos of wallaby behaviour near roads, specifically in relation to devices... |
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Drones | 5 years 4 months ago | |
| Really useful to know about that package, thanks |
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Drones | 5 years 5 months ago | |
| Hi WILDLABbers! We're looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow in the drones meetup. It's on Wednesday,... |
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Drones | 5 years 6 months ago | |
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Drones, Latin America Community | 5 years 8 months ago | |
| Hello everyone, I am applying to a call to create an online ecological restoration platform that incorporates drone images to facilitate... |
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Drones | 5 years 8 months ago | |
| It is indeed. You can watch it here: https://consbio.org/products/webinars/scgis-webinar-promises-and-pitfalls-conservation-drones I'll also see if we can add it... |
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Drones | 5 years 9 months ago | |
| Hi everyone, I am selling a drone and 3 sensors... The drone is a 178 WingCopter Heavylift :https://wingcopter.com/technology/... |
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Drones | 5 years 11 months ago | |
| Thank you for the tip! Shall try and pick up a set soon. |
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Drones | 5 years 11 months ago | |
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