Drones Planting 1 Million Trees in the Irrawaddy River Delta in Myanmar by BioCarbon Engineering
Geschreven op 19-8-2017 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Natuur
For a group of villagers in Myanmar, drones are providing an important service. Irish startup BioCarbon Engineering is using them to help residents replant an entire forest from the sky.
Restoring a damaged ecosystem is time-consuming and difficult work that can take years to complete. Villagers in the Irrawaddy River delta have been hand-planting 2.7 million mangrove trees in order to restore the local forests, but they started looking for an easier way to get the job done.
The villagers found the solution with BioCarbon Engineering, which uses drones to plant as many as 100,000 trees in a single day.
The drones take a systematic approach, flying over the land to map the topography and choose the best location for planting. A second wave of drones then fly over the area and “fire” seed pods into the ground in accordance with calculations made by previous drones. Fully biodegradable, designed to ensure high germination rates and customised to application. Degradation time matched to germination rate. Can carry multiple seed types and sizes.
The information gathered from the mapping phase is processed to create an optimised planting pattern over the area of the interest. The new trajectory will avoid the known obstructions, unplantable soil areas and existing trees. Analysis of the soil nature, moisture and density will help decide which seeds should be planted. Since it is generally advantageous to have a heterogeneous mix of tree species planted in the same area, the planting UAV is capable of carrying a mix of seeds and control their planting pattern.? Planting frequency: < 6 seconds. Multi-species carrying capacity: Yes. Can plant in multiple soil types: Yes.
The drone-planting project will start this September, covering about 250 hectares with 1 million new trees, in addition to the 750 hectares that the villagers have already planted. If all goes according to plan, eventually BioCarbon Engineering will help plant up to 1 billion trees in the area.
See also: The Canopy Project: Planting Millions of Trees for A Billion Acts of Green - The Billion Tree Campaign: New Target 18 Billion Trees in 2020 by Plant for the Planet Foundation – Humankind has Destroyed Half of all Forests: How Many Trees Are There in the World? - Climate Tours in Google Earth: A Voice for Trees, by Wangari Maathai - Climate Tours in Google Earth: Mangroves of Mexico by CONABIO
