Australian NGO could use drones to restore ecosystems after Wildfires
Channel: Aeracoop & Dronecoria
Date: 20/03/2020

In the campaign we will help Trees for Life to boost and scale the native species sowing with drones: http://igg.me/at/dronecoria

We was contacted by Trees For Life from Australia to use our drone and seed coating methodology in their ecosystem restorations.
As you know Australia was on fire last summer, and Climate Change there are totally changing their ecosystems.
We reproduce here the dramatic letter that we receive from them:

Dear Dronecoria team:
I work for Trees For Life a South Australian not for profit organisation established in 1981.
Trees For Life delivers revegetation and conservation programs and services. Working with volunteers and partners, we have grown and planted over 38 million seedlings across the state. In 2020, as we look towards the future, we see the need to expand our reach and increase our impact to address two immense challenges: the climate crisis and the rapid biodiversity loss that threatens our flora, fauna, food security, public health and long-term livelihood. We currently deliver tubestock revegetation and operate 3 different direct seeding machines. Trees For Life has been seeking external support to enable us to develop new technologies that will enable us to scale up revegetation, increase diversity and tackle increasingly challenging climatic conditions. Climate change analysis for South Australia projects winter and spring rainfall to decrease by up to 15% by 2030.
By 2070, overall rainfall across the state could decrease by up to 20% and temperatures could be up to 3 or 4 degrees hotter. The impacts on our native flora and fauna are likely to be profound. Native vegetation can help buffer many of the impacts of climate change by increasing landscape resilience. However, revegetation projects are becoming more difficult because climate change is already resulting in:
• reduced availability of seed;
• increased variability in seed quality; and
• a shorter window of time available for planting.
Our program operates across the Murray Mallee and Riverland, Mt Lofty Ranges and Fleurieu Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula and the south-east of South Australia. We are developing a number of fire recovery projects for four regions of South Australia impacted by fires – Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island, South East (25,000 ha) and Yorke Peninsula).
Seed is a vital resource for direct seeding.
Current direct seeding methods use large quantities of seed through a technique known as ‘continual seeding’. This method relies on a ground driven system to deliver a continual stream of seed with no control of species placement, using large amounts of seed.
Our direct system has been successful but climate change is affecting the seed set of our native plants so seed is becoming increasing difficult to collect.
This reduction in seed highlights the need for improved methods of direct seeding, specifically designed to reduce the use of this vital resource and to more accurately replicate natural systems.
We are an organization that doesn’t have spare funds for research and development.
The idea of seeding from a drone with seed pellets is an exciting idea and we would like to be involved especially when large areas of our country have been devastated by fire and will need innovative approaches to replace areas of bush that will not regenerate.
Kind Regards
David Hein
Trees For Life Direct Seeding Manager


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