Conservation drones book is out!
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
Category Archive: Drone applications
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Dramatic drone footage reveals bird’s eye view of tree top heronry
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
Drone monitoring of invasive plan species
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
Grey heron monitoring in the UK
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.
Help finding orangutan nests on drone images
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
Guest blog on Machine Vision
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
Footage from a study using RGB and thermal footage to detect people in miombo woodlands
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
Amazon river dolphin project
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
Cetacean survey in Timor Leste
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
Chester Zoo: Wildlife Connections Festival
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
The Good Drone
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.
Tree cover analyses in Tanzania in collaboration with EnviroDrone
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
Forest monitoring in Suriname with Conservation International
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
100km conservationdrone
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
Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program nominated for UAV Humanitarian Award
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.
Featuring guest projects
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 and Chimpanzee Conservation in Tanzania
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
ConservationDrones on Instagram
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
Publications page
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
Using conservationdrone images to automatically count oil-palm trees using the spatial modeller in ERDAS IMAGINE 2015
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
UAV and Environmental Research Conference at LJMU in Liverpool
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
View from Above – Using Drones to Help Support The Jane Goodall Institute’s Conservation Efforts in Congo
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
New exciting collaboration between Conservation International and Conservationdrones
To assist in protecting the Central Suriname Nature Reserve we are collaborating with Conservation International Suriname. Conservation International prepared this video about the project.
‘Data Mule’ Drone is the national champion in Dubai’s Drones for Good competition
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
FLIR + ThermalCapture setup
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
Identifying illegal logging in drone imagery using Google Earth Engine
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.
ConservationDrones teaming up with Dutch UAS
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
How to find a downed drone in a rainforest?
For Graham Usher of the SOCP, he flew another drone to locate it! (See if you find it in this image!)
Conservation Drones Recycling Bin
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
ConservationDrones Joining Forces with Google Earth Outreach
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
Testing the ThermalCapture – A Backpack Digital Recorder for FLIR Tau 2 Cores
(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
Evidence of illegal logging activity detected by conservation drones in Gunung Leuser National Park
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
Scotland revisited
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
Raven Thermal Imaging camera test
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
Mapping with a GoPro underneath the Iris
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
Latest conservation drone model achieves 100-km flight distance!
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
Conservation drones for seabird monitoring
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
PhD position for UAV research available at Liverpool John Moores University
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
FFI Conservation Drone in ULU MASEN
ConservationDrones.org is proud to help kick-start Fauna and Flora International‘s conservation drone program in Aceh.
Behind-the-scenes look at a three-day drone building party
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
ConservationDrones Test-Flies 3DRobotics’ Y6 Multicopter
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
That time National Geographic followed ConservationDrones to the field
(Click here for the National Geographic article accompanying the video clip)
Second anti-poaching video drone for Nepal
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
New Anti-Poaching Video Surveillance Drones for Nepal
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
Conservation Drones over Barro Colorado Island, Panama
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
Girls, boys and their toys!
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
Conservation Drones used in fight against destruction of elephant habitats in Sumatra
Fast forward to 5:50 for part on drone use.
Vegetation Monitoring UAV – Greenland
Vegetation Monitoring UAV – Greenland from jtk on Vimeo. (Re-post from Jeff Kerby @ http://vimeo.com/69579388) To better understand arctic herbivore foraging ecology, we need information about the timing of plant growth (i.e. plant phenology)… Continue reading
Marine Conservation Drones
ConservationDrones.org went to Glover’s Reef in Belize upon the invitation of the Belize Fisheries Department and Wildlife Conservation Society. We explored the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for supporting enforcement of marine conservation… Continue reading
Eye in the sky quadcopter drone in Aras Napal, Sumatra, Indonesia
*Unedited raw video footage See: http://ConservationDrones.org
Drone footage of fire aftermath in peatlands of Tripa, Sumatra, Indonesia
*Unedited raw video footage This video was from a short drone flight last year (2012) in the peatlands of Tripa. It shows burnt areas cleared for new oil palm plantations. This drone mission… Continue reading
Drone flight over orangutan re-introduction site in Jantho, Aceh
*Unedited raw video footage Drone operator: Graham Usher from Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme Drone: Raptor with APM Read about the efforts of the SOCP at re-introducing orangutans: http://www.orangutan.com/from-the-forest-jantho-aceh-besar-sumatra-2011/
Droning in Cambodia: Training Birdlife, ELIE, CI & WCS
Simon Wunderli from ResearchDrones and Serge Wich from ConservationDrones were in Cambodia in April 2013 for BirdLife, Elephants Livelihood Environment Initiative (ELIE), Conservation International (CI) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Featuring the ResearchDrones… Continue reading
3D Model of Oil Palm Landscape created with Drone Imagery
3D model and fly-through created by Serge Wich using PIX4D and ESRI 3D ArcScene. Drone Imagery from Keeyen Pang. This is a 3D model animation of an oil palm mosaic in Sabah. A… Continue reading
Tiger Drone Test Flight Video
Airframe: Finwing Universeye Penguin Autopilot: APM 2.5+ with Power module GPS: 3DR LEA 6 Telemetry: 3DR 915 Mhz Motor: Finwing stock M2220 1350kv Propeller: Master Airscrew 3-bladed 9 x 7 Pusher ESC: Finwing… Continue reading
Oil Palm Landscape Mapped by Drone
Keeyen (our Asia team member) used his Skywalker 1900 equipped with an APM 2 and Canon S100 to map an oil palm estate owned by a friend. Keeyen’s Skywalker was able to track… Continue reading
A Story About Madagascar From Aboard A Drone
This is a 15-minute short film about Zuzana’s journey across parts of Madagascar with a drone, shining a spotlight on environmental and livelihood issues on the red island. It is a fascinating and… Continue reading
Madagascar Drone Missions
Madagascar Team Leader and Drone operator: Zuzana Burivalova (PhD candidate) Applied Ecology & Conservation Lab, ETH Zurich With support from: Dr Martin Bauert, ZOO Zurich Wildlife Conservation Society Madagascar Madagascar National Parks Tom… Continue reading
Video diary: Drone training in Odzala, Congo
0:36 Mission planning 1:32 Takeoff 1:46 On-board cam takeoff 2:08 low flyby 2:53 Landing 3:47 Auto take off from platform 4:40 Spotting fires 5:40 Landing 6:17 Debriefing 6:47 Elephant pictures Video editing by Simon Wunderli (ResearchDrones.com)
Thanks for supporting Conservation Drones in 2012!
2012 Annual Report for ConservationDrones.org Some excerpts: ConservationDrones.org had 49,000 views in 2012. The busiest day of the year was May 29th with 4,416 views. Our visitors came from 158 countries in all! Most visitors came… Continue reading
Launch of new ResearchDrones/ConservationDrones in Odzala National Park, Congo
After traveling thousands of miles by air, a 16-h “road” trip and surviving 3 flat tires, Remo Peduzzi and Simon Wunderli from ResearchDrones personally brought our brand new WHITE Maja drones to conservation… Continue reading
Conservation Drone in Loango, Gabon
Sander van Andel (Max Planck Institute) flies Conservation Drone Maja in Loango National Park, Gabon, capturing turtle nests on the beach (first ever coastal mission!), forest buffaloes and chimpanzee nests (with a marker). Loangodrone flight overview… Continue reading
Flight Animation with synchronized video
If you are using a GoPro HD camera, or any non-GPS enabled video camera, you can use a new web service, GPS4Sport.com, which allows for the synchronization of your APM log (in GPX format)… Continue reading
Video of drone flight over Sepilok forest for tree ecology
Video of conservation drone flight over Sepilok by ecologist, Chris Kettle. This is a Conservation Drone 1.0 (Bixler prototype) carrying a Canon IXUS 220 camera (video mode)
How to land a Conservation Drone in small spaces
Updates from our Conservation Drones Asia Team (Keeyen and his son, and Wee Siong) who is helping ecologist Chris Kettle to conduct drone surveys over forests in Sepilok, Sabah (Borneo). (Link to Keeyen’s… Continue reading
Fly Through 3D Digital Forest
3D forest model of a transect in Sumatra, Indonesia, based on aerial images acquired by Conservation Drones. Data processing by Dronemapper.com. Animation by Ervine Lin of ETH Future Cities Laboratory (futurecities.ethz.ch).
Collage of Orangutan Nests
Collage of Orangutan Nests, a set on Flickr. This is a photo-collage of ~35 orangutan nests in SE Asian rain forests taken by cameras on board Conservation Drones. We are collaborating with colleagues… Continue reading
High resolution composite image of Zurich Zoo’s new elephant enclosure under construction
This is an 18-photo composite image of Zurich Zoo’s new elephant enclosure. Aerial photographs were taken by a camera on board an autonomous Conservation Drone 2.0 that was flying at a speed of… Continue reading
University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
Training Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz and the MEME team from the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (Management & Ecology of Malaysian Elephants). Emma Stokes and Tony Lynam from WCS dropped by for a peek as… Continue reading
Orangutan nest spotting with Conservation Drone, success!
Two orangutan nests spotted by a Conservation Drone flying at 100m above ground.
Training our first collaborators
Serge and Lian Pin training Alex and Fiona from the Ugalla Primate Project to operate a Conservation Drone bound for Tanzania to survey chimps!
Our Conservation Fleet!
Serge and I spent the last few days in Asten, the Netherlands, building up our Conservation fleet. These will be going to the Jane Goodall Institute, University of Nottingham Malaysia, and WWF Nepal,… Continue reading
Our Mission
The mission of this website is to share our knowledge for building low-cost Conservation Drones to help conservation workers and researchers in developing countries do their jobs a lot more effectively and cost… Continue reading
What are Conservation Drones?
Conservation Drones are inexpensive, autonomous and operator-friendly unmanned aerial vehicles for surveying and mapping forests and biodiversity. Non-technical operators can program each mission by defining waypoints along a flight path using an open-source… Continue reading