Conservation Drones Need To Overcome Some Take-off Troubles

During the 2023 Assam floods, the state’s forest department used drones to trace soil erosion in the Kohara range of the Kaziranga National Park. The erosion had destroyed the road network significantly, says Arun Vignesh, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and Deputy Director, Kaziranga. “As animal movements are aggressive during floods, manual surveillance of wildlife was not advisable,” he adds. So, the team used quadcopters – light-weight drones with four rotors – for aerial assessment. This helped expedite the road reconstruction after the floods.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR), drone surveillance has been helpful to monitor forest fires. Incidents of forest fires caused by human activity have reduced by half after drone surveillance was implemented in 2017, notes Shashank Sawan, project engineer, Wildlife Institute of India (WII). “Forest fires were often caused by arson and smoking, despite both being prohibited,” he says. Once people knew they were being watched, these incidents came down, he adds. The drones were initially introduced in PTR for monitoring tiger movement in the protected area, as part of the pilot project by WII and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Tracking forest fires then became an added advantage of the drones. The drones also accurately calculate the burned areas which helps inform mitigation measures that can then be deployed faster.

Micro drones, in the forests of Tamil Nadu, have helped estimate the baseline population of the endangered species in difficult-to-access habitats. “The Nilgiri Tahr lives 300 to 2,800 metres above mean sea level. Due to anthropogenic reasons and climate change, its elevation has been increasing, making manual surveillance and population counting methods impossible,” explains M.G. Ganesan, director of Project Nilgiri Tahr under which the drones are deployed. Through drones, the project proponents have been able to estimate the sex ratio, understand the landscape and ascertain the reason for the depleting population of the tahrs.

Drones in Indian forests are mapping habitats, locating invasive species, monitoring and tracking animal movements, helping reduce wildfires and human-animal conflicts.

Wings for Wildlife, a recent report published by Technology for Wildlife Foundation, highlights 15 case studies which utilised aerial drone technology for wildlife and environmental conservation in India.

However, the ratio of drones available is insufficient compared to what the forest department needs to monitor the forest area effectively. In Kaziranga National Park, the forest department has three drones to monitor the expansive 1,500 square kilometres. Meanwhile, the Project Nilgiri Tahr relies on seven micro drones for monitoring the tahr across the Nilgiris.

During an animal rescue or human-animal conflict situations, where the forest departments are brought in for resolution, they often rely on obtaining drones from other organisations.

“Only when a consistent demand arises, will policies to buy drones be formulated,” Ganesan tells Mongabay India.

Challenges in optimising drones for conservation

Despite their usefulness, there are challenges in deploying drones for monitoring and conservation in Indian forests.

Limited duration of use is one such challenge. Assam’s quadcopters, for example, have a battery life of only 35 minutes. The micro drones used in the Project Nilgiri Tahr return to base automatically, after 40 minutes. While long-range drones cover extensive distances and offer prolonged flight times, they are expensive. “[Use of] long-range drones by forest departments is currently negligible,” says Sawan of WII. The Survey of India is one example of a government institution using long range drones for mapping as part of the Swamitva Yojana project, he tells Mongabay India.

In addition, some officials are also not convinced about the technology. “Forest departments in some states are already struggling to pay their employees. In such states, it is a big ask to deploy expensive technologies, such as drones, for surveillance,” notes a senior forest department official, on the condition of anonymity.

Other experts vouch for VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) technology in India’s dense forests, as they can take-off and land without a runway. “Quadcopters complete tasks with more stability but are restricted by flight time due to low power efficiency,” explains Yash Thummar, a design engineer. “VTOL, on the other hand, is an advanced version of quadcopters with wing support; they act as fixed wing planes, completing long-range tasks without high battery restrictions. Their flight time can vary from one to 10 hours,” he adds.

“Our VTOL drones can achieve over three hours of flight endurance, while carrying necessary payloads for surveillance missions and operations, thus providing the versatility needed for extended measures,” shares Prateek Srivastava, Managing Director, DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations Limited.

VTOLs again are expensive. “A VTOL drone costs Rs. 20 lakh. Officials who are involved in decision-making positions find them an unnecessary expenditure,” counters an official from the Telangana forest department, on the condition of anonymity.

While the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has purchased more than 500 Trinity F90+ VTOL drones for mapping land records and projects across the country, the forest department is utilising only six drones for three major forest regions: Jim Corbett, Panna Tiger Reserve and Rajaji National Park, made possible due to perseverance of a few officials, shares Sajid Mukhtar, Chairman, Roter Group of Companies that makes the Trinity F90+ VTOL drones that have an endurance of 90 minutes and can cover 5-7 square kilometres in a single flight.

Invariably, due to high prices, state forest departments are opting for low-cost quadcopters.

Lack of awareness about the advantages of environmental drones among the officials is another challenge, opines Sawan. “If their perception is changed, funds can be disbursed. Their perception can be changed with expertise, experience and success. Forest department should start a task force where a specialised group with the right qualification could be trained to understand drones. Strategy-based deployments such as periodic systematic aerial sorties (similar to general patrolling) should be implemented,” he suggests.

The allocation of budget for wildlife surveillance technologies is a state subject. In Tamil Nadu, for example, Supriya Sahu, former Additional Chief Secretary to Environment, Climate Changes and Forest Department, says that budget constraint is not a problem in the state. “The state’s forest department can directly approach Tamil Nadu Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Corporation to seek drones as per the requirement.”

Other challenges

A 2023 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology summarised the problem of using unmanned aerial systems in forest management.

“Despite the advantages of using UAS (unmanned aerial systems) for field research, regulatory constraints, data processing time, technical know-how and fuel capacity or battery life are all significant barriers to its widespread adoption by ecologists,” the study states.

In Project Nilgiri Tahr, thermal drones could not be used during the day in a few regions, as the rock temperature was higher than the body temperature of Nilgiri tahr, which would lead to discrepancies in data collection. “Drones cannot be used during heavy winds. Drone pilots should also know animal behaviour to understand their hidden habitats,” Ganesan explains.

In addition, when drones are being used in the forest, they need to have less blade and propeller noise, shares Thummar. “They should also have good camera quality to process the images from high altitudes. That way, wildlife won’t be disturbed.”

The nuance lies not only in technological advancement, but also in maintaining affordable prices. The 2023 study also states that overall component reliability and AI assistance must be increased to provide the operator confidence when flying long-range missions. “Finally, these enhancements must not lead to price hikes that put the system out of reach for research and conservation organizations.”

Earlier, drones were noisy and had limited camera capabilities, requiring lower altitudes for better captures. Now, with improved low-noise propellers and advanced onboard cameras with better stabilisation and zoom, drones can monitor with high precision from greater heights, explains Sawan.

“While the West has traditionally led in tech development, India is catching up. Import restrictions and high costs previously limited drone access, as they were categorised as spy equipment. However, with the new drone policy and Make in India initiatives, the government has created a supportive regulatory framework, fostering a growing drone market,” Sawan adds. The lack of widespread understanding and demand for conservation-focused drones remains a challenge and there is limited focus on the application of drones for environment, he says.

The need for a standard operating procedure

As India advances in using drones for environmental protection, addressing the current challenges will be crucial, experts say. “UAS should be translated into a programme to witness its total potential in Indian forests,” K. Ramesh, scientist, Wildlife Insitute of India (WII) tells Mongabay-India. Ramesh pioneered drone usage in Indian forests at the Panna Tiger Reserve in 2013. “There should be a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) with a mandate for central, state institutions and public-private partnerships to implement UAS under a regular programme mode,” he says. “We need to encourage IITs to open an Environment Department where research and development and technical support may be extended.”

India’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021, provides a regulatory framework for the use, registration and operation of drones. However, conservation experts believe that a standard operating procedure is requisite to operate drones in forests specifically.

Ramesh highlights that the standard operating procedure for drones should also involve marked zones for flying so that the communities living in buffer zones feel safe and there is no invasion of privacy.

Earlier this year, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) projected the possibility of using swarms of drones that communicate with each other through artificial intelligence to combat forest fires. However, these technological advancements remain at the institutional level, as only a handful of drones are currently surveying Indian forests, suggesting a significant gap between these advancements and practical applications on ground.

(Published under Creative Commons from Mongabay-India. Read the original article here)