Canadian Startup Uses Drones to Plant Trees

A drone used by Flash Forest for planting seed pods. Photo: Flash ForestIn its quest to plant 1 billion trees by 2028, a Canadian startup company is taking to the skies.

Flash Forest is using drones to plant seed pods in forests depleted by wildfires and more, PennLive reports. The technology is able to plant 10,000 to 20,000 seed pods per day, with plans to bump that number up to 100,000.

The drones survey forests using software that identifies the best places to plant based on soil and existing plants. After ideal planting locations are identified, another swarm of drones follows and drops the seed pods, using a “pneumatic firing device” in rougher areas to push the seed pods deeper into the soil.

The funding for the project comes from forestry companies, government contracts, or mining companies required to replant trees, according to the report.

The technology also has the potential to address impacts of climate change, according to the startup. 

“I think that drones are absolutely necessary to hit the kind of targets that we’re saying are necessary to achieve some of our carbon sequestration goals as a global society,” Flash Forest co-founder Angelique Ahlstrom told PennLive. “When you look at the potential for drones, we plant 10 times faster than humans.”

See videos of the drones in action below: