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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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Wildlife Biologist/Conflict Specialist and drone enthusiast in Montana
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Hello, I am working as Enterprise Solution Architect with Department of Conservation, New Zealand Government. I am keen to learn the progresses and advancements made in the conservation space. This will provide us the starting point to collaborate and implement the technology.Tkx
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Stanford University & Duke University
PhD Student at Stanford University studying white shark movement ecology using biologging and remote sensing
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Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Assistant Director/Curator of Prospect Park Zoo of the Wildlife Conservation Society
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WILDLABS Coordinator based in Southern California
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I'm the Community Manager at WILDLABS
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Article
Drone Pilot Training with Wildlife Drones (Australia)
Wildlife Drones
Ever wanted to become a Drone Pilot? Here is your chance!
10 June 2022
Article
Hundreds of tons of the toxic chemical have likely littered the ocean floor near Santa Catalina Island for decades.
04 June 2022
Article
"A drone emitting orca sounds will be used in attempt to guide the animal, whose health is fast deteriorating"
01 June 2022
Article
Authors: Geison P Mesquita, Margarita Mulero-Pázmány, Serge A Wich, José Domingo Rodríguez-Teijeiro
29 May 2022
1
Article
News: The Latest in Conservation Tech (March 24)
WILDLABS Team
Check out this round-up of three of the latest conservation tech studies and news. See more conservation tech news by subscribing to our bi-monthly digest.
24 March 2022
Careers
Opportunity: Technical Specialist, Analytics, Conservation Technology
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Fauna & Flora International is seeking a qualified candidate for the position of a Technical Specialist, Analytics to support and grow the use of spatial technologies and analyses for conservation planning and...
21 March 2022
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Technical Difficulties: Cleared for Takeoff
Eric Becker
In their three-part interview from our new series Technical Difficulties, Colby Loucks and Eric Becker share the failures they've encountered and learned from throughout six years of working on the WWF-US Wildlife Crime...
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Article
Technical Difficulties: Understanding the Realities
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In their three-part interview from our new series Technical Difficulties, Colby Loucks and Eric Becker share the failures they've encountered and learned from throughout six years of working on the WWF-US Wildlife Crime...
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Article
New Papers: Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation
Remote Sensing in Ecology & Conservation
ZSL's Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation journal has released new research for early view before inclusion in an issue. See the full list of recent open access research papers on RSEC.
22 April 2021
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
Funding
Funding Opportunity: COVID-19 Science Fund
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National Geographic is offering funding up to up to $50,000 for conservationists conducting research on how the pandemic has impacted wildlife and conservation work. If you are interested in researching aspects of the...
10 March 2021
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| @gracieermi & I are happy to announce the latest update to the Conservation Tech Directory, bringing our total... |
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Acoustic Monitoring, AI for Conservation, Biologging, Camera Traps, Community Base, Data management and processing tools , Drones, eDNA & Genomics, Remote Sensing & GIS, Software and Mobile Apps | 3 hours 27 minutes ago | |
| You might check out what's listed in the Directory - for example, DroneMapper, though this is paid (not sure if they'd give you any discount). The one I have heard most about is... |
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Drones | 1 week 2 days ago | |
| Some folks doing work in this space - Wildlife Drones, Conservation Drones, UAV Wild, AfricanDrones, Oceans Unmanned, Geonadir. |
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Drones, AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, eDNA & Genomics, Emerging Tech | 1 week 2 days ago | |
| Hi I can help...I think I have a few ideas where this can work. Thanks |
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Drones | 2 weeks 6 days ago | |
| >>>Ideally I'd be able to log angle/acceleration data (IMU), GPS (XYZ) >>>camera-trigger events (hotshoe of camera) to an SD card. The Pixhawk class... |
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Drones | 5 months 1 week ago | |
| Drone program manager at Island Conservation - https://www.islandconservation.org/drone-program-coordinator/ Senior Specialist, Flight Operations (UAS Pilot) at DroneSeed -... |
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Drones | 10 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi Egil, The group I'm involved with works with remote communities in/around North and South Luangwa National Parks and there is some expansion happening to community areas... |
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Drones | 1 year 3 months ago | |
| Here is a very interesting conference with different tech approaches about Automated Forest Restoration where we collaborated with our sowing drone: Stephen Elliott from Chiang... |
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Drones | 1 year 3 months ago | |
| Hi! Interesting subject indeed. In most cases where UAVs are used in nature "documentaries" it is pretty obvious to a behavioural biologist that the animals... |
+4
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Drones | 1 year 4 months ago | |
| Hi Wildlabbers, This week is the last episode of Tech Tutors Season 2! Elizabeth Bondi tackled the question "... |
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AI for Conservation, Drones | 1 year 4 months ago | |
| Hello Aurelie, Thank you for sharing this info. I just downloaded the brochure and I am sure I will find it very useful. I have senseFly's eBee Classic, with RGB,... |
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Drones | 1 year 4 months ago | |
| Hi Wildlabbers, Tech Tutors Season 2 continues with our fifth episode, featuring Shashank Srinivasan who will tackle the question, "... |
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Drones | 1 year 5 months ago |
New Conservation Tech Directory update
27th June 2022 at 04:45pm
Open Source Photogrammetry Software
15th June 2022 at 09:43pm
18th June 2022 at 08:45pm
You might check out what's listed in the Directory - for example, DroneMapper, though this is paid (not sure if they'd give you any discount). The one I have heard most about is OpenDroneMap though. Or perhaps check out GeoNadir?
Drone Pilot Training with Wildlife Drones (Australia)
10th June 2022 at 05:53am
Cofounder needed
9th June 2022 at 04:23pm
17th June 2022 at 01:14pm
What about developing a drone conservation training course for field conservation staff teaching specific skills for specific research needs.
17th June 2022 at 06:54pm
How exciting @Joyeeta ! I'd love to learn more about the companies and projects you worked on, can you share more info about them?
I once chatted to an entrepreneurial advisor with a couple of my conservation tech ideas, and he said my ideas are good/impactful but don't make for a product worth millions of $$$ of turnover per year that would interest investors. So I am very curious about how you got your conservation tech businesses off the ground!
18th June 2022 at 08:33pm
Some folks doing work in this space - Wildlife Drones, Conservation Drones, UAV Wild, AfricanDrones, Oceans Unmanned, Geonadir.
Smithsonian Magazine: "Underwater Roombas" scan southern California coast for DDT barrels
4th June 2022 at 07:30pm
New article (Reuters): Orca stuck in river to be lured to sea using drone with loudspeakers
1st June 2022 at 04:02pm
New paper: A practical approach with drones, smartphones, and tracking tags for potential real-time animal tracking
29th May 2022 at 01:15pm
News: The Latest in Conservation Tech (March 24)
WILDLABS Team
24th March 2022 at 12:00am
17th June 2022 at 02:31pm
Hey Lindy,
Were you using Web ODM for OpenDroneMap? Have you tried looking for courses/tutorials? I'm not sure of any other software, I usually use Agisoft for Photogrammetry. I'm taking it the one off license fee version that they have isn't enough for your uses?