How Implementation of Drones can assist in conserving wildlife and restoring nature
Forest ecosystems, which are the habitat of 80% of the global terrestrial organisms, cover approximately 30% of the Earth’s land area. Certain human activities are burying these forests into the ground, mutilating the wildlife, and augmenting the havoc on the biodiversity. As much as 75% of the world’s forests have been destroyed, the wildlife has been simultaneously jeopardized.
Over the last few decades, humanity has gained the consciousness to protect wildlife and forests from this grave threat. Technology played a vital role in accompanying such gigantic righteous tasks. Humans, incessantly evolving in technology, came up with a scheme to curb this disaster; the implementation of Drones in monitoring and promote wildlife and forest growth. A technology that has been earlier utilized less than its potential, has recently occupied its remarkability to preserve the environment.
With the advancement in technology, the eagle-eyed drones evolved their capability to peek into the dense forests, gathering images and the necessary data to conduct research and track down activities. Such inexpensive technology can assist in detecting illegal activities, monitoring wildlife populations, planning reforestation, determining possible threats, and further implementing proactive measures.
Moreover, these drones are adaptable to extreme weather conditions and effective in all kinds of natural disasters. The newer technology allows the drones to suspend at higher altitudes to avoid contiguity with the wildlife and nature, and function under the dark sky as well. Furthermore, the small size and minimal noise from these devices conceal their presence in the biosphere.
This disruptive technology with vertical take-off and landing is easy to operate without any manpower and is proficient to execute impeccable surveys and produce effective results. Shortly, drones will be able to mitigate the serious problem of deforestation. Implementing plantation drones that could drop seed pods into the grounds will allow a single drone to plant hundreds and thousands of trees in a single day. This will ultimately reduce the manpower and induce efficient and uniform plantations.
Drones, which are the subsidiaries of the robotic industry, are still at an infancy stage in ecology. With the recent popularity of such gadgets, many research groups emerged from their shells to employ the technology to gain access to unreachable or hard-to-reach woodlands, covered by extensive wildlife species.
Amazon Forests, which are home to almost 3 million animals and accommodate 15% of the world’s animal species, are gradually drifting its resources into vulnerability. Thanks to drone technology for restoring the authenticity of the forests by carrying out plantations and restraining threats in a short period. A small country like Madagascar has already proclaimed the use of drones to reinstate their forests and wildlife.
In a country like India, with a vast number of wildlife species and huge forest areas, it has become essential to develop this technology and implement its usage, especially in dense forest areas. Kaziranga National Park became the first protected area in India to utilize Drone technology to safeguard Rhinos from poachers, setting up an epitome of incorporating technology in the Conservation Act.
Although some debates occurred on the ethical usage of drones, questions arose about the safety and privacy of the environment and data respectively. There might be chances of these non-piloted machines crashing down in the forests or trespassing in the aerial forest areas by outsiders. Such challenges were overcome by specified reasoning and solution. The relatively smaller sizes with specially designed structures make it susceptible to bending out of shape after several bumps. A special Drone Traffic Management System can be established to maintain privacy and dispense smooth and secure functioning of the system. Perhaps, further experiences may offer intractable hindrances, however, genius minds across the world will keep tackling these issues.
The application of modern techniques and devices has been an integral part of wildlife research and management, the most popular being wireless devices. With an exponential up trajectory in the innovation process, drones, which are also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), contain the predictions to evolve in producing more accurate data, being cost-effective, and endure efficiency in procuring results. The technology, which initially marked its existence in the supply chain, subsequently entrenched its feet in Forest and Wildlife Conservation. No doubt the revolution in Innovation and Technology not only benefits humans but blesses wildlife and the environment with a safe and flourishing future.
