Published 23:27 IST, January 2nd 2020
Flash Forest: Canadian scientists aim to plant 1 billion trees by 2028 using drones
In a major green initiative, a team of Canadian science and engineering graduates have recently taken up to plant a billion trees using drones by 2028
In a major green initiative, a team of Canadian science and engineering graduates have recently taken up to plant a billion trees using drones by 2028, as per international reports. The company named 'Flash forest' uses drones to plant trees at a 10% higher rate than manual reforestation, according to its official website. The activity also costs 20% of traditional planting techniques using drones to reportedly achieve new levels of accuracy, precision, and speed.
Flash forest to plant 1 billion trees by 2028
Explaining the need for rapid reforestation, the company points out that only 10 years are available for the human race to reverse climate change as per the International Panel on Climate Change. Highlighting an average tree's ability to absorb 40 lbs of C02 per year, the company claims that 34 billion tons of carbon dioxide was released by humans in 2018. The company claims that using drones they can plant 2000 trees per hectare by identifying the suitable areas and mapping them aerially.
Founders explain
"Every year the planet loses 13 billion trees and regains less than half of that," the team’s engineering specialist Bryce Jones said in the video posted on the site. He added, "We started Flash Forest with the goal of healing the planet’s lungs and taking that job seriously. Until that job is done well, no other job matters."
Drone tests by Flash forests
Moreover, the company has conducted three tests dates till date using technology to plant trees. On 19 August 2019, in their pilot test, they used their manual firing mechanism to plant over 100 pods, containing White Pine, White Birch, White Spruce, and Red Maple seeds and have found them successfully growing. On 28 September 2019, they planted 1,033 pods using their drones. Finally, on 19 October, Flash forest successfully planted over 2,000 trees with 165 trees being planted by a single drone in three minutes.
Updated 23:27 IST, January 2nd 2020