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
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @dilip_singh556
- | Him
On the way to Bridge technology and Nature.
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 14 Discussions
- 3 Groups
Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI)
Conservation biologist based in Tanzania
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 2 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 15 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
Early career, assistance in biologging projects with owls and eagles
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- 1 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 12 Groups
- @beccadobrien
- | she/her
Undergraduate student studying mechanical engineering and environmental science at Lehigh University.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @ghirrien
- | Gael
Seasoned Product manager & digital entreprise architect
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
Drone Operator and Tech Developer
- 0 Resources
- 33 Discussions
- 9 Groups
Link
Great use of drones from Fauna&Flora's team
7 November 2024
Link
deadtrees.earth is an open-access platform hosting more than a thousand centimeter-resolution orthophotos, more than 300,000 ha. Combined with Earth observation data and machine learning it will enable to uncover tree...
2 November 2024
Careers
Seeking expressions of interest from PhD candidates to join the MAVE Lab at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia
26 August 2024
Funding
The Resilient Futures Technology Grant Program by DroneDeploy.org is dedicated to fostering radical inclusion in urgent solutions. Our mission is to enhance outcomes for underresourced populations by prioritizing...
26 August 2024
Article
Join us in celebrating this year’s Judging Panele Award winners!
19 August 2024
Article
Join us in celebrating this year’s Community Choice Award winners!
15 August 2024
Article
Vote for your favorite submissions that best demonstrate conservation impact, novel innovation/discovery, and strong storytelling of the work and the sector.
12 August 2024
Article
Handbook 'Drones in Biomonitoring & Nature Conservation'
Steffen Döring
The use of drones can contribute in various ways to increase the effectiveness of monitoring, reduce costs, and minimize disturbances. This manual has been specifically developed to support conservation efforts and to...
27 June 2024
Link
Handbook 'Drones in Biomonitoring & Nature Conservation'
Steffen Döring
The use of drones can contribute in various ways to increase the effectiveness of monitoring, reduce costs, and minimize disturbances. This manual has been developed to support conservation efforts and to help make the...
27 June 2024
Article
Enter to win a free thermal camera!
Alex Rood
WILDLABS is partnering with FLIR to give away a FLIR ONE Edge Pro to 5 community members.
26 June 2024
Article
Case Study: Drone-based radio-tracking of Eastern Bandicoots
Wildlife Drones
Wildlife Drones was deployed by Zoos Victoria in a trial project tracking captive-bred Eastern Barred Bandicoots that were tagged and released into the wild
14 June 2024
August 2025
event
Louisa Richmond-Coggan
September 2025
event
Louisa Richmond-Coggan
March 2026
January 2023
33 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| want to join 2025 contest for humpback whale photos in Juneo Alaska of Kelp |
|
Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Emerging Tech, Geospatial, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Marine Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 15 hours 42 minutes ago | |
| This is awesome!! |
|
Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Emerging Tech, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions | 1 day 7 hours 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... |
|
Drones, Latin America Community | 2 weeks 5 days ago | |
| G-DiNC 2026: Global Drones in Nature Conservation Symposium & ExpoNairobi & Naivasha, Kenya | March 3–6,... |
|
Drones, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Emerging Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 4 weeks 1 day ago | |
| 15 years ago I had to rebuild the dams on a game reserve I was managing due to flood damage and neglect. How I wished there was an easier,... |
|
Drones, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions | 3 months 4 weeks ago | |
| I create ocean exploration and marine life content on YouTube, whether it be recording nautilus on BRUVs, swimming with endangered bowmouth... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Drones, Emerging Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors, Sustainable Fishing Challenges, Wildlife Crime | 1 month 2 weeks 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... |
|
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 | 1 month 3 weeks 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... |
|
AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Geospatial, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Open Source Solutions | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
| I would love to hear updates on this if you have a mailing list or list of intersted parties! |
|
AI for Conservation, Community Base, Drones, Latin America Community, Marine Conservation, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 2 months 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... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Connectivity, Drones, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 3 months 4 weeks 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... |
|
Drones | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
| 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... |
|
Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Geospatial | 3 months ago |
