During Drone Show Latin America, the first drones trade fair in Latin America to be held in Frei Caneca Convention Center, in Sao Paulo, on 28 and 29 October, WWF-Brazil will defend the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, popularly known as drones), to nature conservation, due to the technology’s capacity to collect data and high resolution imagery.
“Despite of the many challenges such as the high price of more robust equipment, lack of institutional arrangements needed to scale the use of technology and the absence of specific legislation for the purpose of conservation, the drones bring innovative opportunities for protected areas mapping, biodiversity monitoring, forest fire combat, hunting and exploitation of natural resources as well as the collection of scientific data, “explains Marcelo Oliveira, conservation analyst at WWF-Brazil.
To enlighten the debate about this theme, Oliveira will speak of drones applications worldwidel and specially the experience of WWF-Brazil with Ecodrones Project Brazil, in partnership with the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the Federal University of Goiás and other organizations, during “Drones in Environment and Mining projects” seminar, which will take place on the second day of Drone Show Latin America, at 11 am.
Drones benefits for the conservation of biodiversity are already recognized as a very effective strategy in some continents such as Africa and Asia. In Australia, a monitoring experiment of Dugong – an aquatic mammal similar to the manatee – was made with drones and brought results faster, cheaper and more accurate than traditionally used method, with researchers on airplanes.
The application of technology inBrazilian scenario is still timid or carried out in isolation, because the law regulating drones does not provide clear rules for this type of purpose. However, in September, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) began a series of public hearings to verify the regulation of the use of UAVs in other ways, for example, for recreational use.
“The regulation for professional use of drones and high investments for the development and use of this technology in different areas of the economy give a very large growth potential for this market,” says Emerson Zanon Granemann, director of MundoGEO, the company that promotes DroneShow Latin America.
In Brazil, WWF-Brazil launched last july the Ecodrones Brazil Project, focused on the federal protected areas such as National Parks and extractive reserves, respecting the operation and security protocols. “The goal of the project is to contribute to building a favorable scenario for the use of UAVs in environmental issues in Brazil in the next months,” saiys Oliveira.
DroneShow organization expects more than 2000 people during the two days of the trade fair. Registration for visiting DroneShow trade fair and to attend the courses and seminars can be made at www.droneshowla.com.br.
About DroneShow LatinAmerica
DroneShow Latin America will bring together manufacturers, suppliers, importers, services and technical providers, and will feature a program with lectures, courses and seminars for the brazillian drone industry. FT Sistemas, XMobots, Santiago & Cintra Geo-Technologies, Drone Store, Map Sensor Geotechnology, Hexagon, Gyrofly, Skydrones and Flighttech are some of the largest companies in the sector who will be present at the trade fair, featuring the state-of-the-art. Further information and registration at www.droneshowla.com.
About MundoGEO
MundoGEO, founded in 1998, is a leader in Latin America in integrated media and communications solutions for the geospatial industry and location. The connection platform generates content in Portuguese and Spanish to more than 100 thousand registered professionals in their various channels, such as magazine and MundoGEO and DroneShow web Portals, social networking, webinars and events such as the MundoGEO # Connect LatinAmerica and DroneShow.