Thailand has recently enlisted a new ally in its fight against deforestation: Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAV)s, known more commonly as drones.
Yesterday, Anond Snidvongs, Executive Director of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), announced to the press that his department had been tasked with purchasing 10 drones, which will be used to help keep track of over 800 million freshly planted saplings throughout the country.
The drone purchases come at the behest of the Water and Flood Management Commission (WFMC), which, in combination with the Natural Resources Ministry, has planted saplings on 200 rai worth of land each year for the past two years. This project will continue through 2016, having been initiated to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 80th birthday.
At a price of THB40 million, the new drones will be outfitted with high-resolution cameras and will patrol forested areas at an altitude of approximately 2,000 feet.
The National News Bureau of Thailand reports that, curiously enough, the use of drones is actually illegal in Thailand, though an exception will be made for the GISTDA’s purposes.
