Climate Tech of the Future: Tree Planting with Drones
With extreme weather events plaguing the globe in a near-constant threat to human livelihood, this year more so than any other has caused our collective attention to turn towards the climate crisis.
2023 marked the hottest average global surface temperature on record for July since records began in 1850.
Unsurprisingly, the past 9 Julys have been the warmest on record. According to NCEI's (National Centres for Environmental Information) statistical analysis, 2023 is very likely to rank among the five warmest years on record, with a nearly 50% probability of ranking warmest on record.
As of early September, over 17 million hectares of Canadian forests - about 5% of the entire forest area of Canada - had been lost to wildfire this season. Smoke emitted from these wildfires has caused air quality alerts and evacuations across Canada and the United States, and in late June, the smoke crossed the Atlantic, reaching Europe. While it may have once been easy to ignore the effects of our changing planet, the countless homes lost to the flames combined with the effects on daily life for people reaching thousands of kilometres away has ensured we take notice. This is not sustainable.
Trees are essential players in the fight against the climate crisis.
While forest fires are a natural occurrence in the forest ecosystem and help cycle nutrients, kill off invasive species, and encourage new growth, the rate at which they have increased in size and severity has become detrimental. Trees play a vital role in absorbing and storing greenhouse gases, regulating water levels, protecting shorelines from storm surges and erosion, and even cooling cities. Trees also provide habitat and sustenance for countless animal, bird, and insect species.
Nature-based climate solutions – like tree planting – leverage nature’s ability to combat climate change in a sustainable and holistic manner. The only problem is, traditional reforestation methods can’t keep up. That’s where we come in.
Why drone reforestation?
Our drone tree planting technology is capable of addressing the ever-growing need for post-wildfire reforestation. While it is possible for some sites to regenerate naturally after a fire, this is unlikely to occur when the burn severity is high. Moreover, it’s oftentimes to dangerous for human tree planters to reforest, leaving these vast areas sitting empty for years, with weeds and other competing vegetation taking over.
Flash Forest’s post-wildfire reforestation technology is on track to plant 10x faster than traditional hand and shovel planting while negating the inherent safety risks and energy-intensive nursery phase associated with traditional methods. We’re able to produce over 400,000 seedpods per day in our automated production facility, and are able to plant at a rate of 15 seedpods per second, per drone. Our seedpods are embedded beneath the soil and are formulated with nutrients, beneficial fungi, and water-retention capabilities to protect against drought and predation. Flash Forest’s solution is an efficient, effective, and scalable tool in the race to reforest.
This is the future.
Drone Any form of reforestation is a powerful tool in addressing the climate crisis.
While we pride ourselves in the improvements of our approach over traditional forms of tree planting in post-fire sites, it should be underlined that we do not seek to replace them. Tree planters are absolute heroes and we need every one of them. Any and all forms of reforestation are needed if we are to have any chance in addressing the climate crisis and keeping global temperatures below irreversible thresholds. We accomplish more together.
sources: National Centres for Environmental Information, Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Gov’t of Canada, Climate Atlas of Canada
