In May, on a land located north of Toronto Canada that previously burned in a wildfire had drones hovering and releasing seeds of native pine and spruce trees into it.
The aim is restoration of habitat for the birds. The Canadian startup, Flash Forest, is the organizer of the project and their plan is to use this tech to plant 40,000 trees in a month’s time.
By the end of the year, as their project expands to other regions, their estimates are hundreds of thousands of trees. By the year of 2028, the startup’s goal is to plant billion trees.
Tree Planting Drones Are Already a Thing
The company, like numerous other startups using these drones, believes that this tech can be of aid in achieving the ambitious goals for forest restoration and help with climate change and loss of biodiversity.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the billion trees are pivotal to reduce the global warming to 1.5 Degrees C.
The forests have to be protected while new trees are being planted and they claim this isn’t going well right now because these efforts for reforestation are failing.
In fact, the estimated net loss is 7 billion trees annually.
But, Don’t Tree Planting Drones Help with Deforestation?
Drones are unable to address deforestation, an even more serious problem than tree planting as older trees are able to store more carbon.
In order to restore lost forests, the drones can work cheaper and faster than humans doing it with shovels. The company’s tech can plant 10,000 to 20,000 seeds per day.
They explain that with their tech advancing, several pilots will be able to plant 100,000 per day.
Compared to a human’s hand, this is a major difference-a person could averagely plant around 1,500 trees in a day.
How Does the Tree Planting Drone Work?
Before sending a drone, the workers send mapping drones to check the area using software which locates the best areas for the trees according to the soil and other plants.
Then, the drones begin to drop seed pods precisely. They’re packed in a mix which the company claims it encourages the seeds’ germination weeks earlier.
These seed pods also store moisture to enable the survival of the seedlings even when there’s prolonged drought.
In some of the hilly terrains or mangrove forests, the drones use pneumatic firing device-it shoots seed pods much deeper into the soil.
This is something that human planters can’t do.
What Happens After the Drone Planting Is Finished?
Depending on the project, the drone operators go back two months and then after a year or two or five.
This is to ensure the trees are sequestering as much carbon as initially planned.
If the threshold isn’t met, they go back and make sure they hit their goal.
The native species are able to survive naturally on their own so there’s no need of human work to ensure they stay alive.