Great link, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing, @Lot  

Adding a little more info in case anyone was interested but didn't click through - also, earlybird tickets are still available. 

WORKSHOP & TRAINING:

Drone applications in sustainable natural resource management

When: 15th to 19th May, 2017
Where: Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
For whom: Members of forestry companies, governmental environmental institutions, non-profit organizations and university research departments, as well as students.

@TWhitten this may be of interest for Indonesia team members using drones? 

Please note that they main use is Parrot sequoia multi spectral sensor, and not specifically Parrot drones.

I think they mainly use 3DR Solo drone for make the mapping of the sequoia.

Thanks for the link, @jprobert ! Parrot Education Blog's own link also here for reference http://edu.parrot.com/blog/2016/12/06/parrot-pix4d-team-forest-canopy-biologists-study-giant-sequoias/

Hi Jprobert.

I don't have experience with DJI drones but I do have quite a bit of experience with 3DR and drones in general.

What are you using the drones for? Get in touch if you'd like some advice.

Tom

Hi Jprobert,

I have been trying to use my Phanton 3 proffessional together with Pix4Dmapper to trial out some forest mapping in Principe Island.

if you are interested check it out the interview I give to CNN Inside Africa about how drones and 3D mapping technologies are bringing our knowledge of Principe island’s forests into the 21st Century.

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/11/07/inside-africa-sao-tome-and-principe-biosphere-b.cnn

“How Sao Tome and Principe embraced ecotourism: Sao Tome and Principe is promoting small-scale, high-end tourism, preserving the island's ecosystems so they can be enjoyed for years to come. Source: CNN”


Also If you want know more about the use of drones for conservation check the full story at FFI website:

http://www.fauna-flora.org/putting-principe-back-on-the-map-with-3d-technology/

Regards,
Felipe Spina
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felipe-spina-avino-91716193

I will not consider karma for conservation, the 3DR Solo instead is much more smart and open source. Ready for more tasks than just a flying camera.

Mavic of course is very small and very useful for walking on nature.

Unfortunately, I could not see the full article, but the executive summary makes a lot of sense.  I think there might be a couple of other considerations. 

1) As drones become more ubiquitous it is possible that poachers also adopt the technology.  

2) Even if poachers don't adopt the technology, in some high value poaching scenarios they may be able to eavesdrop on the drone communication.   Eventually some kind of security may be necessary to protect the information collected by the drones.  

Overall, I think drone technology is developing at a rapid pace and will prove to be very helpful in conservation.

For anyone interested in an overview of how drones are being deployed for conservation, this piece by Serge Wich (of ConservationDrones.org) provides a comprehensive run through the possibilities.  

Interesting.  A case in point is the viral video making the rounds about drone fishing:

We've seen an array of inventive uses for drones of late across a whole range of endeavors, often having direct or indirect implications for natural resource management.  Using drones to improve our ability to target/hunt species of concern seems at once both a natural progression and something new with a slightly ominous overtone.  This strikes me as one of those moments where we might want to pause and take stock of what is going on with this technology and where it might go in the not too distant future.

Should we ignore this development?  Work to restrict the use of drones for such activities?  Support this?  Regardless of where we might come down on this question, I can't help but fell that this notion of drone fishing certainly seems to have the sense of "crossing the Rubicon" somehow.

http://aarr.piratelab.org/news/drone-fishing/

Hi Lot, great to see you here too. 

Hi Sean, 

Thanks for sharing your survey - is there a specific date you'll be closing the survey? 

It'd be great if you could share the results of the survey here, as I (for one) will be quite interested to see what comes back. 

Cheers, 

Steph

Hey Gregg,

The project looks cool!

Just wondering how much you envisage the load carrying capacity of the drone to be? So being able to carry cameras, GPS, etc.

Also, do you see the price coming down later? $5000 sounds quite steep...

And finally, have you thought about creating it as an open source project? Since all the perks at this points are mostly symbolic, this way people would be more compelled to contribute.

Have a nice day,

Daniel