The Sarawak Forest Corporation, a forest conservation organization in Malaysia, announced an increase in its drone fleet to help manage forest health, inventory and logging enforcement, according to The Star.
The SFC will ramp up its drone fleet from 58 to 200, and the new drones will feature geographic information systems that will let the SFC estimate the balance of timber stock, assess compliance with harvest and environmental regulations, and detect illegal logging activity.
“The new drone initiative will help us to monitor the development of our forestry sector, which is important to Sarawak’s economy and contributes a lot of revenue,” Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg told The Star. “In order to sustain this sector, we have to be innovative in how we preserve it but at the same time give value to it.”
The SFC has been using drones to conduct its mission since 2015.
