Drones may save Myanmar delta

Group proposes tree-planting robots to restore life-preserving mangroves

YANGON: Fast-dwindling mangroves in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta, ravaged by deforestation, agriculture and aquaculture, may have an unlikely saviour – drones.

Mangroves protect coastlines in the face of storms and rising sea levels, absorb carbon from the atmosphere, and boost fish stocks, experts say.

Myanmar has lost more than one million hectares of mangroves since 1980, said Arne Fjortoft, founder and secretary-general of Worldview International Foundation (WIF), which has worked with two local universities to restore mangroves in Myanmar since 2012.

In the delta region, known as the country’s “rice bowl”, only 16% percent of original mangrove cover remains, Fjortoft, former chairman of Norway’s Liberal Party, said.

There is an “urgent need” to restore mangroves and stem saltwater invasion of farmland and shoreline erosion due to sea level rise, as well as to protect lives and property from storms and floods in coastal areas, he added.

WIF has so far planted some 3 million mangrove trees, but the task is laborious and time-consuming.

Drones could plant trees 10 times faster and cut costs by half, according to UK-based start-up BioCarbon Engineering (BCE).

Drones are particularly useful in complicated or dangerous terrain that is hard for people to access, said Irina Fedorenko, a co-founder of BCE.

Once the process is fully automated, a single pilot operating six drones can plant up to 100,000 trees per day, BCE says.

In late July, the inaugural BridgeBuilder Challenge, which awards US$1mil (RM4.29mil) in prize money for ideas with global impact, selected as one of its winners a proposal by BCE and WIF to test the use of BCE’s drones to plant a million mangroves in Myanmar.

The plan covers 250 hectares and involves training and employing locals to collect and prepare seeds, as well as to maintain, monitor and protect the fragile ecosystems.

It still requires approval from Myanmar’s authorities, but Bremley Lyngdoh, a WIF board member who is applying for further grants, is hopeful work could start later this year.