The shortfall in reforestation of trees is alarming—26 billions tress are cut down each year while 15 million are replanted. To reverse the damages humans have made in hundreds of years of industrialization there needs to an effective resolution to combat deforestation. Perhaps Lauren Fletcher at BioCarbon Engineering has theanswer.
Fletcher, an engineer who spent 20 years at NASA before starting up his company, has an ambitious plan to plant up to 1 billion tress a year. Contrasting with hand planting which is apparently unable to keep up with the pace of deforestation, BioCarbon’s drone flies above an area to examine the potential for restoration, then seeds are fired out from 2 to 3 meters above ground at sufficient velocity to penetrate the soil surface.
It is estimated that the drone can plant at a rate of 10 seeds per minute. In all, cloud seeding using unmanned aerial vehicle could save as much as 75% of the cost of traditional methods. “By planting at the scale that we’re looking at, we will be able to affect global change. We are going to change the world, one billion trees at a time.” Fletcher says.
BioCarbon won a Skoll Foundation award last year and was recently featured in UAE Drones for Good. A fully working product is expected by the end of this summer.
Sources: Fastcoexist
