The nation of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is located in Southeast Asia. In addition to political turmoil, the country has been battered by the effects of climate change over the last few decades.
Myanmar has seen temperature increases, longer and more severe monsoon seasons, increased droughts in the dry seasons, and more intense tropical storms, including devastating cyclones.
In order to help offset some of those effects, scientists are trying a high-tech experiment in order to increase the number of trees that grow along the coast.
Trees can help temper some of the impacts of climate change. They clear carbon (aka CO2) from the atmosphere – helping to offset emissions – and can help solidify soil in order to prevent dangerous land erosion. Trees can also help protect inland areas from severe weather.
Myanmar has land available for tree planting, but it’s never been a cost-effective solution because of the time and energy involved to not only plant seeds but ensure the trees grow healthy.
The non-profit Worldview Foundation first took up the project of planting trees in Myanmar about a decade ago and managed to plant 6 million seeds over 7 years. But a new project might allow environmental organizations to plant 4 million trees before the end of 2019.
The technology that will allow them to scale up this process – drones.
Drones get a bad rap for their role in combat, the dangers they can pose to air space, and potential privacy violations that can occur when they’re equipped with cameras. And while these new drones are equipped to launch projectiles, they aren’t made for soldiers or spies. They’re designed to shoot seeds into the ground.
Drones seem to do a great job of planting viable seeds. In September 2018, a startup company called Biocarbon Engineering teamed up with Worldview International Foundation to test out the drones in remote areas of Myanmar where the country’s famed mangrove trees weren’t growing.
Six months later, those seeds are already 20-inch tall saplings!
Biocarbon Engineering co-founder Irina Fedorenko told Fast Company that they’ve now researched which species of trees are best suited to the environment are ready for more:
“We are now ready to scale up our planting and replicate this success.”
It’s hard for those of us who don’t deal with these issues on a daily basis to understand just how much land or how many trees would make a difference, but Bremley Lyngdoh, founder and CEO of World Impact, says the area in question can theoretically house 1 billion new trees.
Fedoranko thinks that just two drone operators controlling a mini-fleet of seeding drones could plant 400,000 trees a day.
This might be enough to make a positive impact. It would certainly take far too much time to attempt this experiment with human labor.
The drones allow the researchers to map the areas in question and collect data about soil conditions and topography so they can determine the optimal areas for planting.
Then, when they’re on their planting missions, they do more than just “shoot” germinated seeds into the ground – the biodegradable projectile also includes some of the nutrients it will need to grow.
Since mangrove forests tend to grow along the coasts, the researchers also have to be careful about tides. If water rushes in immediately after planting, the seeds could wash away.
Despite Myanmar’s political turmoil, it provides the ideal area to grow mangrove trees. These trees have long and twisted roots that reach underwater and can store more carbon than trees that grow inland.
Even if the project is successful, long-term forest growth will depend on the people living in the area. After all, we can’t just go around planting trees in people’s backyards unless it’s helpful for them in some immediate and tangible way.
The areas where the mangroves are being planted are currently empty because the previous trees had been cut down to make room for aquaculture and charcoal production – this wasn’t out of greed, but economic necessity for the local people.
In order to encourage people to let the new trees thrive, people will need an incentive, such as jobs maintaining the new forests.
And it looks like the project has the potential for long-term economic growth for the area as well. Local residents are interested in more technical jobs collecting data and flying drones that can bring them more income.
If this new drone program is successful, there is a chance the two organizations can work together in India and Sri Lanka as well, where researchers have calculated that the drones can help plant another 1.2 trillion trees, making a huge impact on carbon emissions.
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