Flash Forest and Tree Planting With Drones

Flash Forest can plant trees at 10 times the normal rate and at 20% of the cost of traditional tree planting techniques.

They want to plant one billion trees by 2028. Planting trees is currently the fastest and cheapest way today to sequester carbon. The average tree absorbs 40 lbs of C02 per year. With billions of trees planted each year we can effectively reverse our impact.

The world loses 13 billion trees every year and only half that amount is planted.

Biocarbon Engineering is now called Dendra. They also plant trees with drones. Dendra claims to be the leading technology-enabled service provider addressing restoration of natural ecosystems globally. There are 2 billion hectares of degraded land across the globe created from years of imbalance between the rate of ecosystem destruction, and ecosystem restoration. Dendra has developed an automation and intelligence solution to address this challenge. Their vision for the future is that automated tools and intelligence systems will enable large scale restoration of our natural ecosystems to protect our climate and the sustainability of our natural world. Dendra Systems is CAA and CASA approved for operations in the UK and Australia, with approvals for spreading, and night operations. Dendra Systems holds a ReOC issued by CASA in Australia, and holds a PfCO issued by the CAA in the UK, with relevant OSCs where applicable for operations. All Dendra pilots hold the relevant RePLs required for operations.

Dendra provides mapping, data analytics, direct seeding, and precision pod planting.

Dendra focuses on restoration of healthy biodvierse ecosystems, and therefore work with over 50 species in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical environments. They are always adding more qualified species to their list.

In January 2019, Glencore’s Bulga Coal extended projects with Dendra Systems into aerial seeding.

Dendra’s SKAI TractorTM was used to seed both native woodland seed mixes as well as pasture mixes to rehabilitate contoured slopes. SKAI ScanTM was used to map the land before seeding to assist in planning, with post-rain monitoring to assess initial germination.

Droneseed is also planting trees with drones.

Airseed technologies is also planting trees with drones.

18 thoughts on “Flash Forest and Tree Planting With Drones”

  1. Dropping a dozen lawyers in the nearest river won’t make much difference either, but it’s still a good idea… 😉

  2. I like it but I wonder what happens once the animals get used to highly nutritious “balls” laying around? Will there not be a boost of forest mice that specialize in eating these seeds and hence reduce the number of trees that actually grow?

  3. Seems interesting, seems practical. Would like to see a comparison with Fe-fertilization of far-offshore oceanic provinces. There’s a double return on Fe-fertilization, CO2 uptake and fish populations. And no goats to nibble down seedlings.

  4. I agree that in today’s limited supply of biodiversity it is better to just leave the original old growth forest alone! But given the staggering rate of tree loss around the world, should we be encouraging these ventures and writing to them to ask how they guarantee biodiversity? We don’t just want many tree species planted, but also a deep gene pool of whatever the best practice is to have a decent gene pool within each species. In trees – I’m not sure what that would be? 5 baselines you could clone from? 10? So that times the multiple of different species for each area quickly amounts to some serious biodiversity. Once growing and a decent height, insects will be attracted, and with them birds and animals, and they’ll poo everywhere and bring back nutrients.

  5. Either that or it will make people think of forests that suddenly strip naked! Or forests that contain solid state memory chips. Or forests that give off bright bursts of light. Forests that take photographs.
    The name could mean anything.

  6. Yes, you need to calm it down Inventzilla. By the way, your name is more alarming than flash anything. Get a grip.

  7. I am always skeptical about re-planting/ re-foresting programs. As someone that firmly believes that Mankind can do better than Nature and should always improve on this Hack; we should be creating super-Ecosystems (R) that provide more complexity , more diversity, and more robustness in the face of Nature’s silly little pests and vermin. Many re-foresting programs are near mono-cultures, not a lot different from those garbage-bag trees they ‘install’ at the side of the road at new subdivisions. Hopefully, these programs can provide both industrial/ economic value, restorative value, and scientific/ engineering benefit that can push the Industry of super-sizing Nature; not just ‘patching it’.

  8. I thought trillions of new trees were needed to reverse the carbon problem. One billion trees over the next 8 years will have little impact.

  9. I wonder if targeting an area and trapping squirrels in November/December, feeding them through the winter and releasing them in late spring would work to get many seeds/nuts germinated in the targeted area? Squirrels can suposedly bury 25 nuts per hour…?

  10. I support restoration of Nature, and hope this is no worse than just letting Nature do it naturally. As a global heating solution, it is a waste of time compared to Space based solutions, which not only directly solve Carbon problem (space solar esp Criswell’s Lunar Solar Power) but open the door to O’Neill Space and the ultimate support we can give Nature, leave the planet and spread life thru out the Solar System, in our O’Neill Settlements.

  11. The company name “Flash Forest” has connotations of encoraging people to start forest fires. CHANGE THAT NAME! Dont support that company unless they change. What the hell is their problem?

  12. The seed pods are the real tech here. Don’t really need drones. Can just shoot them out of cannon or similar

  13. You could speed it up an awful lot more. Existing satellite data, and airbursting mortars. Cheaper, faster, and MUCH more fun.

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