One of the most pressing problems in conservation is the shortage of field staff in national parks in developing countries. To draw attention to this problem, I have incorporated the Adopt A Ranger Foundation, http://www.adopt-a-ranger.org. Drones could greatly increase the effectiveness of park rangers and thereby contribute to conservation of nature in the tropics, where the loss of nature and species is greatest.
Drones would have to be robust, easy to maintain, they should be able to cover a fair amount of airspace, have a real-time video camera on board and they should be inexpensive. Worldwide, I would make a first guess that for the roughly 60,000 protected areas in developing countries, at an average of 15 per area, about a million drones would be needed. I intensively collaborate with the Cuyabeno National Park (http://www.cuyabenolodge.com) where equipment could be tested under very realistic circumstances.
Possibly they could also bring in an interesting opportunity for so-called ecotourism. I posted some ideas on http://www.birdlist.org/site/why_birds.htm.
I don't know how to go about this idea, but I stumbled upon this website and thought, if I could just get a drone aficionados interested this huge conservation problem, maybe their enthusiasm could be linked to conservation. So, I would be interested to know if there are Drone-aficionados interested in developing inexpensive drones for conservation purposes. I know nothing about these things, but with 40 years of experience, I am very knowledgeable about management and management needs of protected areas. If your knowledge and enthusiasm could be linked to my experience en passion to conservation, maybe we could develop some great solutions to conservation!
Please let me know if anybody has any ideas. Your involvement can make a major contribution to conservation in Africa and tropical jungles, while at the same time you can have fun with your hobby of focus.
Best wishes, Daan Vreugdenhil
Replies
Have you seen these guys? Conservation Drones. Not exactly what you wanted, but they seem to developing their capabilities and working with suppliers.
Define "inexpensive".
If you mean less than half the cost of a small helicopter and a fraction of the operating and maintenance expenses, then yes, a $15,000 drone and ground-station would be inexpensive.
"Conservation" is quite a broad term, how would you foresee the use of drones for conservation? Looking for poachers? Tracking wildlife? How do you do it now?