2000
young trees delivered
up to 60kg
per flight
Up to 600m
from the take-off area
Context
In accordance with the forestry technical planning projects, the Bayerische Staatsforten have been transforming their forests to a well-structured and stable mixed forest for many years. The targeted forest restructuring and the consequent reforestation of damaged areas demand a considerable input of resources. Innovative solutions, such as the use of cargo drones, hold the potential to address this challenge with greater efficacy.
The Challenge
BaySF is planting 6 million young trees each year to enhance biodiversity and strengthen the forest ecosystems. This is an important step as well as a huge challenge, especially in steep and remote terrains.
Currently, BaySF deploys Helicopters to transport the trees to a center position from where the trained crew manually carries the trees in small batches around different locations for planting. Although, the helicopter can carry heavier payloads than a drone per flight, it requires lots of efforts to bring the plants to the right planting location, which results in additional cost, time, human resources and expose the workers to unnecessary risks. The excessive downwash produced by helicopters also cause many small plants to get damaged during the process.
FB3 Solution
FB3 offers more flexibility and cost efficiency than a helicopter because it delivers smaller batches of trees near the place where they will be actually planted, reducing the time to plant the trees and the manual work required in an operation performed by helicopter. FB3 also eliminates the risk of damaging the trees due to reduced downwash. Zero CO2 emission is another advantage offered by FB3 since it’s electric powered.
Outcome
FlyingBasket has transported 2000 young trees, in batches of an average weight of 60kg each, to 18 different locations in the region of Aschgau, Bavaria. Mission Cargo Drones for Forest Transformation was successfully accomplished and had the recognition of BaySF due to its cost and operational efficiency, innovation and flexibility.