Our Deep Dives are back. In this edition you can expect to learn:

• 🌳 Why Drones can support positive Nature outcomes? 

• 🚜 Who are the start-ups leading the way?

• 💰 What is the funding landscape?

• 💪 What are the challenges to be overcome?

• 💡… As well as some hot takes from experts in the field

Over the past decade, an influx of private players have entered the market of nature and biodiversity conservation with new business models and offerings emerging each year.This article explores the use of drone technology in nature-focused applications, from wildlife conservation to afforestation at scale. We take a look into how drones, equipped with advanced imaging capabilities, are playing an important role in wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching operations, and habitat assessments amongst a wide-range of efforts to restore and protect our natural environment. It is important to note that this article draws examples from both drone-led companies that have nature-focused use-cases as well as more nature/biodiversity-led start-ups that leverage drone technologies as part of their solution. We also did not include pure agriculture-based companies due to the maturity of these solutions.

 🌳 Measuring Nature Doesn’t Always Come Naturally

Climate change and the warming environment has exacerbated biodiversity loss over the past decades. A report supported by the NOAA in 2021 concluded that climate change has been the main driver of wildfire weather in the western US, a growing concern for fragile ecosystems that can leave codependent plant and animal species prone to extinction. In order to better manage, protect and regenerate nature and biodiversity in the natural environment, we must first be able to accurately measure it.

Techniques of measuring nature and biodiversity have ranged from direct, in-field, observation to collecting soil samples and undertaking eDNA assessments, all coming with their own challenges and restrictions. The application of enabling technologies in this space enhances these efforts to provide reliable, accurate and scalable evaluations of the natural environment in isolated areas, far from the beaten track. Remote sensing and earth observation technologies are the foundation of this with drones specifically providing a necessary, versatile platform where imaging hardware can be mounted to deliver actionable results.

🚁  How can we use drones to protect nature (and who is leading the way)?

The application of drone technologies to support nature is a rapidly growing market driven by a number of factors;

1. High-tech, low cost (?): Drone technology has become far more affordable in recent years, making them a relatively low-cost solution for data collection. As a result of this, the number of people using drones for nature-related activities has grown, with many of the organizations in this market having limited budgets. It is important to note however, as mentioned later in this piece, that peripheral costs associated with this technology can vary depending on the specific use-case (bespoke sensing equipment can be very expensive).
   

2. The sky's not the limit: Drone technology provides a solution to remote-sensing that sits between the expansive scale of satellite imagery and the specificity of smaller-scale ground-truthing. This provides a middle-ground remote-sensing solution that is able to both capture granular data-sets, better-suited for accurate species identification than those produced from satellite imagery, with the scalability that cannot be achieved with highly precise camera-traps and bioacoustic devices. Drones can also be deployed and retrieved at speed, making these solutions highly versatile. Additionally, developments in advanced imagery/sensing can be integrated over-night to these platforms, allowing for high levels of customization to appropriately suit the specific use-case.
   

3. Going where no man has gone before: Drones are able to fly over vast areas at speed - including forests, mountains, and other difficult or dangerous terrain. Their ability to collect data and images faster and more efficiently than ground-based alternatives unlock insights from areas that would otherwise be directly inaccessible to humans. When paired with geospatial intelligence, this has a huge advantage in layering data-sets of varying precision to ensure high levels of accuracy when observing and monitoring the natural environment.

   

💰 Funding Landscape

Venture capitalists dropped around ~$224 million into solutions leveraging drones for the natural environment over the last two years (Net Zero Insights).This deployment comes as little surprise as players look to prepare for TNFD obligations around the corner, and tap into the growing demand for drone-enabled nature services such as wildlife conservation, environmental monitoring, and disaster response. Big opportunity, big cheques;

• DroneDeploy raised $50M (Series E) in November 2021 led by Energize Ventures & AirTree Ventures. DroneDeploy provides software for drone mapping and surveying, working with companies across many different industries. A previous project of theirs has included a collaboration with the Nature Conservancy, mapping natural assets such as coral-reefs, prairie-dog towns and mangrove populations.

• Mast Reforestation raised $30M (Series B) in February 2023. The company uses drones and seed pods specifically designed to germinate in harsh conditions to replant forests that have been damaged by wildfires.

• Flash Forest raised $11.4M (Series A) in April 2023. The Ontario-based startup uses drones to plant trees in areas that have been damaged by wildfires. Their technology is designed to plant trees more quickly and efficiently than traditional methods, responsible for >1 million planted trees in Canada and the US to date.

• Pivotal raised $5.64M (Seed) in March 2023 led by Octopus Ventures. Utilizing drones amongst other technologies, Pivotal are building a highly detailed, species-level, biodiversity data-set as a foundation to evidence biodiversity gains that will underpin a variety of financial mechanisms (e.g., biodiversity-linked bonds & credits).

  These are just a few examples of the investments into nature-focused drone technology in 2023. As the technology continues to evolve, and the importance of nature conservation and environmental monitoring increases, we can expect to see even more capital flowing towards companies developing innovative and environmentally friendly applications of this technology in the future.

💪 What are the Key Trends in Nature X DroneTech?

1. Mapping and monitoring nature restoration. Drones can be used to map forests, monitor air and water quality, track the movement of pollutants and wildfires, and even assess the impact of human activity on the environment. This information can all be used to help improve environmental regulations and guide sustainable land management/restoration strategies. Remote sensing of both canopy surface and structure provides a valuable means of measuring factors such as vegetation biomass, phenological stage and plant damage from pests or crop diseases. In capturing these insights, strategic action can be taken in order to protect and restore natural resources more effectively, these strategies can even leverage drones in their implementation. For example, reforestation startups have grown at the rate of 44.2% (CAGR) during 2013-2023 in terms of deal size. Some examples of other startups in this area include;

   • AirSeed: Uses drones to restore forests that have been damaged by wildfires. Their solution covers the entire restoration process, from preliminary mapping & ground truthing, to post-plant monitoring.

   • NatCap: Leverages drone technology amongst a whole host of remote sensing data sources to accurately measure and map companies’ impacts and dependencies on nature, identifying potential sources of both risk and opportunity as a result.

2. Wildlife conservation. Drones have the ability to track and monitor the behavior of wildlife populations as well as surveilling against poaching activities. Poaching activities are amongst the key drivers pushing over 30,000 species towards extinction each year. Despite estimates that 2 rangers are also killed by poachers annually, only 1-5% of poachers are caught. The information collected from these drone missions can not only be used to help protect endangered species and their habitats through both identifying poaching activities and directing targeted conservation efforts, but offer a respite for anti-poaching rangers given the remote nature of their surveillance.Some examples of startups in this area include;

   • Wildlife Drones: The world’s most advanced drone radio-telemetry system enabling governments, universities and other conservation companies to track up to 40 animals simultaneously across their habitats.

   • Air Shepherd: Using drones equipped with thermal imaging and GPS technology, Air Shepherd conducts surveillance and patrols to aid anti-poaching efforts with the protection of endangered wildlife, particularly in areas threatened by poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
     

3. Nature Valuation. Traditionally, nature has been valued through the assessment of the natural resource’s propensity for carbon sequestration (e.g., Forestry, Peatlands, Wetlands, Mangroves).The measurement of biodiversity, however, depends on a variety of local factors such as geography, vegetation, and species variety (obviously). Drones are a well suited means of collecting these localized data sets and can therefore play a pivotal role in the accurate valuation of natural assets. With the introduction of TNFD this year, the importance of these valuation methodologies will only increase. Some examples of startups in this area include;

   • Treeconomy: As part of this companies’ approach to measuring carbon sequestration of forestry projects, Treeconomy uses drone-based LiDAR sensing technology to measure canopy height and other elements essential in providing an accurate valuation. This supports traditional methodologies of valuation as well as providing insights to forestry-loss over time.

   • Sylvera: In order to bring transparency and trust to the carbon markets, Sylvera uses a suite of measurement techniques to assess the integrity of carbon credit projects. As part of this, drone observation is used to bolster the accuracy of satellite imagery and ground-truthing techniques to understand the quality and co-benefits associated with each project.

   • Cultivo: This UK-US & Mexico-based startup accelerates finance to regenerate nature by building portfolios of high quality natural capital projects. They leverage drone technologies, amongst other remote-sensing techniques, in order to assess these portfolios and ensure that they aggregate the highest quality nature positive projects.
     

💪 Mitigating the Bad

Despite appearing to be the ‘crown-jewel’ of remote sensing technologies with their versatility making them the perfect match for nature-focused applications, drone technology does come with challenges of its own.

• So far, so dud: A factor that has been partly responsible for the downward trend in cost over the last 10 years, the lithium-ion batteries that drones typically rely on for their power come with some limitations. Range and battery life are key restraints for drone-based solutions, with flight duration in some cases lasting just ~20-30 mins before needing to recharge, having huge limitations on the efficiency of scalable data-collection.
  

• Is it a bird, is it a plane? Nope, it’s a drone… but what this technology is characterized as in the eyes of the law varies vastly based on location. In some geographies, drones used for commercial purposes are required to be registered as an aircraft with the relevant aviation authority and flown only by a qualified Remote Pilot Licence holder (e.g., South Africa). In others, like Egypt, Libya, and Morocco, authorities are far more restrictive, making it very difficult to gain approval to fly a drone no matter what the circumstances. This creates an added element of (costly) complexity to, often cash-strapped, conservation efforts.
  

• Safe flight: Despite typical recreational drones being small in size, once bulky sensing/imagery equipment has been mounted, commercial drones can quickly become heavyweight, expensive projectiles equipped with entry-level LiDAR systems costing up to $20,000. As a result of this, something that is often forgotten is the insurance costs, with coverage for the equipment alone costing $’000s/yr. This is a huge hurdle for the uptake of this technology in the global south, particularly in regions with the highest levels of biodiversity where capital is not easily accessible. In addition to this, unlike satellites, drone flight missions are highly subject to local weather conditions in the area being observed - another limiting factor that can lead to space-based imagery turning out cheaper over time.

• All the gear, no idea: Unlike other methods of remote sensing (e.g., Satellite imagery), there is no mass app-based software dedicated to the processing and analytics of drone-based data as of yet. Given the decentralized and disjointed nature of these datasets, resulting from short flight times and generally private ownership of the technology, there is no primary data-lake that AI/ML models can be effectively trained on for drone-based data. This possibly stands as one of the most limiting factors for this technology and efforts to plug this gap would be a welcome solution that benefits the community at large. An example of what this type of data-wrangling could look like is present in the works of companies such as Wildlife Insights who have streamlined the decision making process for conservation companies with machine learning models and other tools to manage, analyze and share camera trap data.

 💡Hear it from the experts

A final note…

As the threat of climate change and biodiversity loss looms large, the application of drone-technology in nature-focused activities seems to be a no-brainer. The technology offers a unique blend of high-tech capabilities, versatility and affordability, making them an accessible solution to a wide range of organizations with budget limitations. The versatile nature of this technology sets them aside from other remote sensing methods in their ability to capture granular data-sets essential for a multitude of measurement and restoration efforts (e.g., species identification) whilst also covering vast and inaccessible areas (e.g., population tracking).

In simple terms, drones offer a platform that enables the scalable use of novel, innovative remote sensing technology and while the potential of drones in nature conservation/restoration is vast, challenges do remain. Limitations in battery life and flight duration, along with legal and financial complexities in various regions, pose hurdles for widespread adoption. Moreover, the lack of a centralized platform for processing drone-based data hampers the development of AI/ML models in this domain. It is clear that truly valuable insights are unlocked when multiple remote sensing methodologies are layered over one-another, taking advantage of each of their unique benefits. Depending on the specific challenge, from biodiversity monitoring to nature-restoration, the most valuable, and cost effective option is therefore to combine the use of drones, satellites and ground-truthing whenever feasible.

The intelligent use of blended remote-sensing technologies is most important within the global south, where the richness of nature and biodiversity is paired with a lack of free flowing capital. There is a role to be played here by the large western corporations. If we are to truly protect and restore the natural world, then capital must flow from areas of business and finance to those of nature and biodiversity in a transactional manner where both parties benefit.

Despite these challenges, the general trajectory of the nature-tech market as a whole remains promising. Growing investment in nature-focused drone technology reflects this increasing demand for solutions in wildlife conservation, environmental monitoring, and disaster response. Startups like Mast Reforestation, Flash Forest, and Pivotal are leading the charge in leveraging drones to create positive impacts on our natural world and we will be sure to see more players enter this space over the coming years. As technology evolves and the importance of this work intensifies, we can anticipate even more capital and innovation flowing into this transformative field.

Written by Patrick, Colin, and Ollie - Drop us a message!

Special thanks to Federico - Net Zero Insights, Dr. Claire Burke, Dr Manuel Pinuela and Cameron Frayling - Pivotal for their insights.