Analysing the large volumes of imagery generated by drone surveys remains a major challenge for wildlife monitoring. In a study led by Chaim Chai Elchik, we developed DroneMegaDetector, a general-purpose AI model designed… Continue reading
In a study led by Chaim Chai Elchik, we tackle a key challenge in conservation: how to turn drone data into reliable estimates of wildlife populations. While drones are now widely used to… Continue reading
In a new study led by Eduardo Pinel-Ramos a drone with a thermal infrared camera was used to show that spider monkey subgroups change in size between sunset and sunrise. You can download… Continue reading
Orangutan nest surveys using drones are now common throughout the range where they occur and conservationdrones was probably the first team doing this in 2011. Since that time we always wanted to be… Continue reading
A framework for detecting and tracking elephants in drone videos By Chaim Chai Elchik, Serge Wich, and André Burger The escalating global biodiversity crisis requires innovative, scalable solutions to monitor wildlife populations. In… Continue reading
Understanding excessive tree mortality is important to understand the potential impacts of climate change and others on trees. Obtaining ground-based data are sparse. A recent open access paper led by Clemens Mosig introduced… Continue reading
Monitoring gharials and muggers in Nepal is crucial for their conservation. Since a few years drones have been used as a tool to facilitate this process. The current study led by Gokarna Thapa… Continue reading
A new study by Eduardo Pinel-Ramos and several co-authors evaluated the usage of drones with RGB cameras to study two large primates (Geoffroy’s spider monkeys and southern muriquis). Although both species could be… Continue reading
Fires in peat areas are a huge challenge to extinguish when they are large. Finding them when they are small is thus important. Here we show that drones with thermal cameras in combination… Continue reading
We were in Bhutan recently to collaborate with the Royal Society for Protection of Nature and others on using drones for white-bellied heron conservation. You can read more about this in the coverage… Continue reading
A new paper is out on using drones for surveys of a langur in karst forests. I hope this is a useful paper for the conservationdrone community. Highlights •The Delacour’s langur population in… Continue reading
I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to this fantastic book produced by Wings for WIldlife in India. It showcases a large number of case studies that I hope are useful for the conservationdrone… Continue reading
A great new paper led by Eduardo Pinel on drones and spider monkeys is out! It is open acccess and you can find it here.
A lot of drone research focuses on determining the presence of animals or their signs such as nests. But for conservation it is also important to know with some level of certainty when… Continue reading
These guidelines are free to download in four languages from the CIFOR site here.
Another exciting paper on interdisciplinary dialogues on drones in bidiversity conservation is now out and also open access. Abstract In this policy intervention, we recount the process of producing a policy briefing targeting… Continue reading
An exciting new paper led by Naomi Milner is now out and open access. Abstract Drones are unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) whose technology has evolved rapidly over the past 15 years. Increasingly used… Continue reading
With the new DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise series it became very easy to add the flight track to the video on a screen which is useful for surveys for instance. I put up… Continue reading
Together with several collaborators the ConservationAI team is using deep learning to detect animals in video footage from drones. See these links for an example for the Arabian Oryx and spider monkeys.
‘Drone’: technically correct, popularly accepted, socially acceptable: Different fields use different terms, but by changing its title, the journal Drone Systems and Applications (formerly the Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems) is advocating for the… Continue reading
Recently a drone, called Mamba, was used to collect plants growing on cliffs. A very creative and exciting application of drones. You can read about the study in the scientific paper here. The… Continue reading
Drones are part of a set of technologies used in conservation. Our open access paper describes a number of technologies that are used to support primate conservation. You can download the paper here:… Continue reading
Drones are part of a whole array of technologies (e.g. camera traps, acoustic sensors, loggers, satellites) that can be used as tools to support conservation efforts. Alex Piel and I were fortunate enough… Continue reading
In an open-access paper led by Geison Mesquita the steps to build a low-cost DIY fixed wing drones are clearly explained for non-engineers. This is a great resource for the conservation community.
In April of this year we published a paper on using neural networks for object detection in video images from drones in near real time. We used a DJI Mavic 2 Pro for… Continue reading
The conservationdrones team just returned from a drone training in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. You can find more details here.
Next Generation ConservationDrones Long Range VTOL The next generation ConservationDrone is capable of vertical take-off and landing or VTOL in full auto mode and fly a distance of 70 KM. We believe this… Continue reading
Sol Milne led a new paper titled”Drivers of Bornean Orangutan Distribution across a Multiple-Use Tropical Landscape” that has been published today in Remote Sensing. It is open access and you can download it… Continue reading
The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Liverpool John Moores University collaborate on a project to survey the critically endangered bandro lemur population and habitat with drones. A video of its habitat can be… Continue reading
A recent study in eLife led by Dr. Kate Sprogis examines the effects of boat noise level on whales. The research team explored whale responses to boat noise using behavioral observations captured with… Continue reading
For a project on automated orangutan nest detection on drone images we are looking for a machine learning expert who is interested in conservation to be part of our drone and machine learning… Continue reading
Geison Mequita led this new study in Current Zoology on swifts in Brazil where we examined the effect of a small multirotor on swift behaviour.
We have been working hard on the ConservationAI website. It has some new models on there to detect species. The system can be used for drone and camera trap data. It also allows… Continue reading
It has been quiet here but we have not been stopping our drone work. In collaboration with Carl Chalmers, Paul Fergus, and Steve Longmore we have been working on a site to start… Continue reading
Building on our conservation work the Liverpool John Moores team is now applying the things we have learned fro our conservation work in the search and rescue setting. Claire Burke led a recent… Continue reading
Flying drones (DJI Mavic Enterprise) in preparation for workshop: “Developing Automated Detection and Monitoring of Peat Fires in Indonesia with Thermal Cameras under Drones”. A collaboration between UPT CIMTROP UPR, Borneo Nature Foundation,… Continue reading
New position at the Borneo Nature Foundation for Drone and GIS coordinator. See details here.
Some flying was done in West Java and showed how much plastic there is on some of the beaches and in the sea. View the video here.
For people interested in a taught masters with a drone component. Check out our new MSc for researchers interested in environmental science and drones here We also still have the Wildlife Conservation and… Continue reading
The paperback of the Conservation Drones book was published a few days ago by Oxford University Press. For an overview of some of the projects and the issues featured in the book see… Continue reading
In a new paper we provide the results of our research on detecting orangutans with a thermal imaging camera under a multirotor in Sabah. ABSTRACT We investigated the efficacy of a drone equipped… Continue reading
Denise Spaan led a new paper on how drones equipped with a thermal imaging camera can facilitate counting spider monkeys.
Leonard Hambrecht led our new paper on detecting poachers with drones carrying a thermal imaging camera. The paper titled “Detecting ‘poachers’ with drones: Factors influencing the probability of detection with TIR and RGB imaging… Continue reading
We have a new project up on Zooniverse where you can help us with identifying animals in thermal infrared images. We will then use these images to train machine learning algorithms to automate… Continue reading
Six years after we started conservation drones we have now written up a book about our own work and that of many of our colleagues on the usage of drones for conservation. You… Continue reading
Drone footage of a large heronry could shed new light on bird populations across the country. The remarkable footage, shot at the Woodland Trust-owned Parrs Wood at Grappenhall Heys in Warrington, Cheshire, shows… Continue reading
Colleagues in the US have been using drones for monitoring of invasive plants. The Lake McMurtry team was asked to survey the spread of a recently identified invasive aquatic plant called Yellow Floating… Continue reading
Megan Melia,a MSc student at Liverpool John Moores University used drones with RGB cameras to count the nests of grey herons in the UK. Here you can see some of the footage that was taken for her research.
Sol Milne, a PhD at the University of Aberdeen, started a great citizen-science project in which people can help locate orangutan nests on photos taken from a drone flying above the forests in… Continue reading
We are keen to feature work from other projects that use drones for conservation as well. Feel free to send us some text and a video such as the one featured here: MACHINE… Continue reading
Some preliminary footage taken with a Thermal camera from TeAx Technology and a RGB MAPIR camera that were attached under a F550. Part of a study to assess the factors that determine detection of… Continue reading
A new exciting project in Brazil to use drones to find the Amazon river dolphin. The video was created by the fantastic WWF Brazil team who have been flying there to find the… Continue reading
In collaboration with the Centre for Applied Conservation Science and URAF at the University of Adelaide, Conservation International conducted a scoping study of cetaceans in Timor-Leste using the 3DR Solo and Parrot Disco. In… Continue reading
At the Wildlife Connections Festival on the 16th and 17th of September we flew a multi-rotor drone to show the public one of the technologies that Chester Zoo and the partners it supports are… Continue reading
Members of the conservationdrones team authored a chapter titled “Wings for Wildlife: the use of Conservation Drones, challenges and opportunities” in the new book The Good Drone by Kristin Sandvik and Maria Jumbert.
Last May the Conservation Drones team revisited the Issa region in western Tanzania to continue the collaboration with the Ugalla Primate Project, Jane Goodall Institute Tanzania. For some of the land-cover analyses we teamed up with and EnviroDrone. The Conservation… Continue reading
Conservation Drones recently continued its work with Conservation International in Suriname as part of a broader forest monitoring program. The video below highlights Conservation International Suriname’s ongoing efforts to work alongside local teams… Continue reading
Keeyen Pang from the ConservationDrones Asia team developed a system that can fly for a 100 kilometers. It can be used as a mapping or video system and is based on a Skywalker… Continue reading
The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program has been collaborating with conservationdrones to protect the Sumatran orangutan. They have now been nominated for the UAV Humanitarian Award. Watch the video here.
Many of you that are reading our blog have started to use drones for conservation purposes and we would like to use our site as a platform to showcase your work as well.… Continue reading
Conservation Drones took the the skies over regions of western Tanzania this past summer in collaboration with the Ugalla Primate Project and the Jane Goodall Institute Tanzania. Over the course of dozens of… Continue reading
Our teams work with and provide support to organizations all around the globe. While we sometimes share updates through specific blog entries, there are often many more fieldwork photos and stories than we… Continue reading
With the increase in the use of drones for conservation and environmental research we thought it would be useful to share our list of papers on these topics. Therefore we just added a… Continue reading
ConservationDrones.org provided images to Sterling Geo to develop an automated method for counting palm trees from UAV imagery using ERDAS IMAGINE 2015 Spatial Modeller. For further information visit http://www.sterlinggeo.com The Sterling Geo team… Continue reading
From 7-8 July the 2nd UAV and Environmental Research Conference will be held at in Liverpool. The conference is co-organized by Serge Wich from ConservationDrones.org and LJMU. More information is available here. Places are… Continue reading
In collaboration with Ready-to-Drone, Conservation Drones (Technical Director, Jeff Kerby) recently traveled to Congo to train staff from the Jane Goodall Institute on how to fly their new mapping and surveying drone. Here… Continue reading
To assist in protecting the Central Suriname Nature Reserve we are collaborating with Conservation International Suriname. Conservation International prepared this video about the project.
Those of you who have watched our TED talk in 2013 would remember our wish for a drone that can remotely download images from camera traps in a forest – a ‘data mule’ drone. Fast forward… Continue reading
Just received the FLIR Tau 2 640 (9mm, f/1.4, 9 Hz) + ThermalCapture unit from TeAx Technology (sales@teax-tec.de). This is a short video showing how I am setting it up to be carried… Continue reading
A quick demonstration of on-the-fly land-cover classification of drone-derived orthomosaics using Google Earth Engine for the purpose of delineating illegally logged areas.
Dutch UAS and ConservationDrones are combining expertise to develop a fixed-wing drone with a user-interface that automatically detects people and rhinos. The aim is to provide a ranger with a tool that will… Continue reading
For Graham Usher of the SOCP, he flew another drone to locate it! (See if you find it in this image!)
ConservationDrones.org has benefited tremendously from the generous support of many groups. We are launching a new initiative to pay this forward. If you have ‘preloved’ drone equipment in working order that are just… Continue reading
We are partnering with the fantastic folks at Google Maps Engine and Google Earth Engine to host and process data from our drone missions. This will make it easier for researchers and conservation… Continue reading
(Right-click here to download the first RAW video file in its native 324 resolution.) (Right-click here to download the second RAW video file in its native 324 resolution.) ConservationDrones tested a backpack for… Continue reading
The ConservationDrones Asia Team and the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) flew two separate missions over a part of the Gunung Leuser National Park (Indonesia) between two time periods barely a few months… Continue reading
The conservationdrones team (Brenden Duffy and Serge Wich) returned to Scotland more than a year after the first trip. The aim of this trip was to train Dr. Larry Griffin of the Wildfowl… Continue reading
We often get asked whether thermal imaging cameras can be used on drones. A while ago we tested a FLIR camera. Now we tested a Raven 640 from Xenics (http://www.xenics.com). The camera worked… Continue reading
The ConservationDrones team is planning to run occasional, centralized training workshops on the use of conservation drones — our very own flight school! Visit this page for more information, and to register your interest.
We were curious whether GoPro images could be used for a photomosaic using the Iris quadcopter and Pix4Dmaper. So we put it to the tests and you can see the results in… Continue reading
The latest edition of Primack’s Essentials of Conservation Biology is out. And it contains a feature on Conservation Drones! We are a step closer to our vision of making conservation drones a part… Continue reading
We are excited to announce that Keeyen Pang, ConservationDrones’ Director for Asia Operations, has just achieved a 100-km long and almost 2-hr endurance autonomous flight in a single mission. What this means is that conservation drones are now… Continue reading
A research team led by Jarrod Hodgson and Rohan Clarke from Monash University is partnering with ConservationDrones to use UAVs for seabird monitoring. Jarrod and Rohan have just returned from a successful trip to… Continue reading
People often ask us about the lifespan of our drones. It really depends on many factors: the material and build of the drones, the terrain, how frequent it is used and so on.… Continue reading
A PhD position is available for UAV research at Liverpool John Moores University. This PhD will be co-supervised by Serge Wich from ConservationDrones and be closely linked to work the ConservaitonDrones team is doing.… Continue reading
ConservationDrones.org is proud to help kick-start Fauna and Flora International‘s conservation drone program in Aceh.
This is somewhat of an unusual post for us. Maintaining ConservationDrones.org is a very time-consuming and exhausting task for the four of us who are taking time off our ‘real’ day jobs to… Continue reading
The four directors of ConservationDrones.org physically met for the first time the weekend before Christmas 2013 to build 10 conservation drones ‘Caipy’ for WWF. We spent two days to complete the builds and… Continue reading
In our most recent drone trip, the ConservationDrones team brought along with us a Y6 Multicopter to SE Asia (http://3DRobotics.com). And it was a good thing we did because we were having some… Continue reading
(Click here for the National Geographic article accompanying the video clip)
ConservationDrones is proud to be among the Nominet Trust 100 of the world’s most inspiring social innovations using digital technology, together with other social ventures such as BitTorrent, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Github, Ushahidi, Kickstarter,… Continue reading
ConservationDrones.org‘s latest UAVs were recently deployed in Chitwan National Park in Nepal. We featured one of them, the Caipy video drone, in our last post (850 mm wingspan). Here is its big brother,… Continue reading
ConservationDrones.org has been working closely with WWF Nepal for the past year or so, supported by the WWF AREAS Programme. One of our long-term goals is to reduce training time for new drone… Continue reading
Lian Pin Koh (ConservationDrones.org) and Brenden Duffy (FlightRiot.com) went on a trip to Barro Colorado Island, Panama, upon the invitation of Dr. Helene Muller-Landau from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. We brought two units of… Continue reading
Simon Wunderlin, the Technical Director of ConservationDrones.org, has been testing several new airframes for the next generation of our drones. This work is funded by WWF Netherlands/International. We are developing this new system… Continue reading
ConservationDrones.org recently received a small grant from WWF to develop a rugged drone for use in difficult terrain and landing conditions. This is just a teaser of one of the airframes in testing… Continue reading
Fast forward to 5:50 for part on drone use.
