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
- @Ngunu_24
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I'm a marine biologist working at Local Ocean Conservation as a marine research and data manager. I love exploring the wonders of the underwater world and learning about the amazing creatures that live there. I'm passionate about protecting our oceans and raising awareness.
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Conservation Biologist working in marine conservation in Cambodia who recognizes tech as the new age of conservation, monitoring, surveillance and prevention of wildlife crime.
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- @fabianiodrobo
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I am a Computer Engineer, love tech and possibilities of new discoveries, hoping always to use my work to collaborate in make a better world
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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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- @Tim_Hofmeester
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Researcher studying human-wildlife coexistence -- Camera trapper
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- @mphamilton
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University of California
retired Field Station Director, very early adopter of conservation technologies
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Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
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Fauna & Flora
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Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation
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The Innovation in Practice edition of Methods in Ecology and Evolution is still seeking proposals about conservation technology
6 March 2023
The Environmental Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich welcomes applications for a postdoctoral fellowship on robotics methods for the collection of environmental DNA to automate monitoring of biodiversity in terrestrial...
12 February 2023
Consultancy opportunity at ZSL for an experienced monitoring specialist to support species monitoring in rewilding landscapes across Europe
31 January 2023
WILDLABS and Fauna & Flora International are seeking an early career Vietnamese conservationist for 12-month paid internship position to grow and support the Southeast Asia regional community in our global...
11 January 2023
Careers
The WildDrone team are looking for 12 PhD candidates to join the "WildDrone - Autonomous Drones for Nature Conservation Missions" Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network
1 December 2022
Careers
This position (at California State University, Long Beach) provides data management & analysis support to Shark Lab research operations including shark tagging, active tracking, receiver data, AUV & UAV data...
24 October 2022
Five articles that include conservation tech published at Mongabay
20 October 2022
*New closing date!* WILDLABS and Fauna & Flora International are seeking an early career conservationist for 12-month paid internship position to grow and support the Southeast Asia regional community in our global...
19 October 2022
Careers
The Senior Conservation Technology Specialist will be responsible for providing technical advice and capacity development to GWP project teams on conservation technology, distilling challenges and lessons from project...
22 September 2022
This technology was recently tested in Kauai, Hawaii, with the National Tropical Botanical Garden and has successfully collected from 5 critically endangered species that were otherwise inaccessible.
16 September 2022
The European Biodiversity Partnership Biodiversa+, co-funded by the European Union, has launched a call for research proposals on “Improved transnational monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem change for science and...
14 September 2022
Boost cons tech capacity at an international NGO! Fauna & Flora International is offering a paid three-month internship to consolidate and share best practices for the application of emerging hardware and software...
26 August 2022
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Anyone want to work on Elephants (in natural habitat) ? At Pah Muang Wildlife Sanctuary (along to road Chiang Mai to Lampang) there are... |
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Drones | 7 years 8 months ago | |
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... |
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Drones | 7 years 9 months ago | |
For anyone interested in an overview of how drones are being deployed for conservation, this piece by Serge Wich (of ConservationDrones.org) provides a... |
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Drones | 7 years 9 months ago | |
In April, the Cambridge Conservation Tech Group held its second meetup, which brought together colleagues from RSPB, Birdlife, FFI,... |
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Drones | 8 years ago | |
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... |
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Drones | 8 years ago | |
I agree that it is likely that a dirigible would probably struggle in a lot of common mapping settings. People do use kites though. If you are interested in developing the flight... |
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Drones | 8 years 1 month ago | |
Hi Lot, great to see you here too. |
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Drones | 8 years 1 month ago | |
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... |
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Drones | 8 years 1 month ago | |
Hi Daniel Thanks for the interest in the project. The load carrying capacity will be a few kgs. The battery I've sized at this stage is around 2kgs and should allow it... |
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Drones | 8 years 2 months ago | |
http://www.esri.com/products/drone2map#beta ESRI is developing the means of putting UAV imagery into ArcGIS. Sign up to keep... |
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Drones | 8 years 3 months ago | |
These two fully funded PhD positions may be of interest to the community: Primate Conservation And UAV Technology:... |
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Drones | 8 years 3 months ago | |
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