Forests play a crucial role in the preservation of ecosystems around the world. This image shows a rural area in the state of Bahia, Brazil, where there are few trees on the land, mostly small plants, herbs, and grass visible. Suddenly, a drone emerges from among them, flying high into the sky, reaching an altitude of 20 meters and starting to drop something on the ground, gradually moving forward at a slow pace.
This drone belongs to a company named Morfou, which specializes in sowing agricultural seeds on the ground using drone technology. Morfou plans to sow seeds on a 54-hectare (133-acre) area in this region, with a goal to use drone technology to sow seeds on 10 million hectares by 2030, with hopes of covering this entire area with forests over the coming years.
The rapid depletion of forested areas has become a serious issue in many countries. For example, a study published by the Amazon Geo-referenced Socio-environmental Information Network (RAISG) in 2020 revealed that an area larger than Spain was deforested in Brazil between 2000 and 2018.
Similarly, the prolonged conflict in Afghanistan has also had devastating effects on the forests. According to the World Resources Institute, a third of Afghanistan’s forests were destroyed between 1990 and 2005.
In Colombia, due to internal conflicts and a large number of homeless people, armed groups besides farmers and loggers have also targeted forests, resulting in extensive deforestation. In 2016, after failed attempts to negotiate peace among warring groups, a 44% increase in tree cutting was reported. Incidents of forest fires around Australia, California, and the Amazon Basin continue to occur, leading to extensive deforestation in these areas.
Forests are crucial for the preservation of Earth’s ecosystem. They can help mitigate global warming, which is causing an increase in the intensity of natural disasters. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), billions of people worldwide rely on forests for their livelihood.
The UN has called on the global community to plant trees on a billion hectares of land by 2030 to protect ecosystems. In this regard, drone technology can be extremely helpful in achieving the goal of planting forests on vast areas in a short amount of time. By using drones, seeds can be sown on a larger area quickly, even in remote and inaccessible locations.
Morfou has two drones that can carry seeds of up to 30 kilograms and sow seeds on 50 hectares of land daily. To make the forest planting project more effective, the company has started developing seeds with an 80% germination rate. Research is also being conducted on tree and plant species that resist global warming and can flourish without human intervention, so that more of these species can be planted.
Experts believe that drone technology can play a crucial role in achieving the goal of planting forests on vast areas in a short amount of time. If the UN’s goal of planting forests on a billion hectares by 2030 is to be achieved, the use of drones for seed sowing will need to be promoted further.