In Northern Toronto, a Canadian start-up called Flash Forest is planning to use drones to plant 40,000 trees every month. By 2028 it aims to have planted 1 billion trees. And this company is not unique. Others are also using tree-planting drones to tackle the issue of climate change and to try to restore biodiversity – a trend that was sparked by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has stated that it is necessary to plant 1 billion hectares of trees to limit global warming, a size equivalent to the United States.
The process of planting trees using drones involves first sending specialised mapping drones to survey the area. These help to identify the optimal places to plant trees based on existing plants and soil conditions. Next, the drones precisely drop four species of seeds that have been uniquely designed to survive months of drought. After a couple of months, the company checks on their progress to ensure germination.
At Davos 2020, the World Economic Forum announced the ‘1 trillion trees’ initiative – a goal that could see forests store an estimated 200 gigatons of carbon. Drone technology could help operations such as Flash Forest contribute to this initiative in an expedient manner. Flash Forest co-founder Angelique Ahlstrom said: “Drones are necessary to achieve some of our carbon sequestration goals as a global society. When you look at the potential for drones, we plant ten times faster than humans.”
However, she added that it is equally important to stop deforestation in the first place: “There are a lot of different ways to tackle reforestation, but despite all of them, they’re still failing, with a net loss of 7 billion trees every year.” Once Flash Forest finishes planting near Toronto, it aims to begin a restoration project in Hawaii, where 300,000 trees will be planted. Projects in Australia, Colombia and Malaysia are also planned.
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In Northern Toronto, a Canadian start-up called Flash Forest is planning to use drones to plant 40,000 trees every month. By 2028 it aims to have planted 1 billion trees. And this company is not unique. Others are also using tree-planting drones to tackle the issue of climate change and to try to restore biodiversity – a trend that was sparked by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has stated that it is necessary to plant 1 billion hectares of trees to limit global warming, a size equivalent to the United States.
The process of planting trees using drones involves first sending specialised mapping drones to survey the area. These help to identify the optimal places to plant trees based on existing plants and soil conditions. Next, the drones precisely drop four species of seeds that have been uniquely designed to survive months of drought. After a couple of months, the company checks on their progress to ensure germination.
At Davos 2020, the World Economic Forum announced the ‘1 trillion trees’ initiative – a goal that could see forests store an estimated 200 gigatons of carbon. Drone technology could help operations such as Flash Forest contribute to this initiative in an expedient manner. Flash Forest co-founder Angelique Ahlstrom said: “Drones are necessary to achieve some of our carbon sequestration goals as a global society. When you look at the potential for drones, we plant ten times faster than humans.”
However, she added that it is equally important to stop deforestation in the first place: “There are a lot of different ways to tackle reforestation, but despite all of them, they’re still failing, with a net loss of 7 billion trees every year.” Once Flash Forest finishes planting near Toronto, it aims to begin a restoration project in Hawaii, where 300,000 trees will be planted. Projects in Australia, Colombia and Malaysia are also planned.