A Canadian start-up has launched a successful Kickstarter campaign with a simple yet powerful idea : Planting trees. On a massive scale. How many ? Well, no less than 1 billion. How ? With drones of course. Many, many drones equipped with canons shooting tree seeds like crazy. According to its founders, Flash Forest drones should be able to plant 20.000 trees per drone and per day.
What is it ?
Drones are getting more and more popular in many sectors. Companies like Amazon have already started using them to deliver orders right in front of your house. Unfortunately, drones are also used for other things : the armies use them to operate in dangerous situations, spying on enemies or using them as weapons. Well, here we do have a drone equipped with a cannon, but a pneumatic one, and instead of deadly bullets, we have pre-germinated seeds envelopped in a shell made of minerals and nutrients, making it easier for the seed to grow, even on poor soils. The Canadian startuppers are ambitious and not affraid to aim for big results : With their float, thay aim to plant 2M trees by the end of the year, and 1 billion more before the end of 2028.
How does it work ?
The seed bullets :
Within FlashForest’s team, you will find a geneticist and a botanist working on the pods. The recipe is apparently yet secret, but it will be a mixture of seeds, minerals and nutrients, in order to obtain a fast sprouting.
The drones :
Three different types of UAV’s are used for the process : Drones that will analyze the area, select the best sites and monitor the growth and health of the newly planted trees. A second drone will be affected to the planting of the seeds with the help of an automated air canon, and a third type of drone will spray nutrients over the designated sites to make sure the plantations grow well.
Why is it useful ?
At the moment, the most cost-effective “air filters” we have to fight climate change and air pollution are trees. Lots of them. Believe it or not, but after all these years of research and development of new technologies, nature is still the best solution we can turn to. Planting a tree doesn’t cost much, and while growing, it will absorb a great quantity of CO2. A young tree can remove up to 21kg of CO² from the atmosphere each year. That is the equivalent of driving 175km with a gasoline car.! On a more massive scale, trees can also be useful for the restoration of the environment by providing shelter and habitats for the wild life. They also help stabilize the soils with their deep roots. And yet… currently, earth is loosing 7 billions trees each year. ..
If you want to help and support this start-up, they have launched a crowdfunding campaign of kickstarter just here : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/499734388/flash-forest-using-drones-to-plant-1-billion-trees-by-2030 or you can donate through their website. They even help you calculate your carbon footprint and how many trees you can “sponsor” to compensate your carbon emission for a year !
Sources :
– http://urbanforestrynetwork.org/benefits/air%20quality.htm
– https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/using-drones-to-plant-one-billion-trees/
