More recent work focused on improvements in real-time data display of the drone position and radio tags, offline base-map useability and back-end data processing. Wildlife Drones have presented their integrated solution to conferences around Australia, and have a growing client base where our desktop app is a critical component contributing to important wildlife conservation efforts and research.

Debbie Saunders demonstrating the Wildlife Drones method

Dr Debbie Saunders, CEO of Wildlife Drones, gave us a great wrap:

“Gaia Resources did a wonderful job turning all our user interface ideas into reality.  Within a relatively short period of time we went from having a general idea of what we wanted to having a very impressive, incredibly user friendly and intuitive user interface.  This has dramatically increased our ability to demonstrate our technology to anyone who is interested.  All the feedback from customers, investors and the broader community has been overwhelming positive and we are also now thoroughly enjoying using our cutting edge technology with much greater ease.”

Wildlife Drones are currently working on a project looking at the differences in behaviour and movement of Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in burnt and non-burnt environments. In this recent article, Debbie says:

“Usually when you are tagging wild animals there are always some that disappear, there are always some that take off. You end up spending all your time and effort looking for the missing animals. When you are on the ground with a handheld receiver, you’re tracking one animal at the time, you’re taking hours. With the drone we can track [the signals of] 40 animals at the same time, we could see all of the koalas all the time.”

In the aftermath of last summers devastating bushfires there is a lot of work going on in New South Wales and Victoria to monitor remaining populations of Koala and drones are playing a crucial and time-saving role in this research.

Over much the same timeframe, Gaia Resources has been working with the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) to develop another approach to monitoring Koala populations, via the I Spy Koala citizen science app. There is clearly a role for both approaches to help save our dwindling Koala populations, and perhaps there may be some synergy between them.

More information about this project can be found in our blogs and project page. And you can hear more about Wildlife Drones direct from Debbie in this upcoming Environmental Institute webinar.

If you’d like to discuss any of the topics covered in this post, please drop me a line at alex.chapman@gaiaresources.com.au, or connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Alex

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The program is managed by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and is delivered in partnership with seven regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) groups. The program currently has almost 2000 properties across Western Australia.

Land for Wildlife property owners, Robyn and Andy McElroy, at Boyup Brook – photo ©Parks and Wildlife

The team here at Gaia Resources are really excited to support this valuable nature conservation program by doing what we love – delivering sustainable technology solutions to make the world a better place.

We developed a web-based spatial system to manage information about the existing LFW properties and new applicants to the program.

The system allows DBCA and regional NRM officers to view and edit the data in an integrated system, with all officers able to see updates in real-time. This makes collaboration much easier, both within each group and across all eight organisations. It also saves officer time (previously information was stored across multiple formats and systems) allowing officers to focus on the landholders and wildlife conservation.

The LFW GRID allows real-time collaboration and centralised data management for many users across eight partner organisations

The system also has a new webpage for the public to register their interest in the program. This connects directly into the spatial system, so DBCA and NRM officers can see new applications in real-time.

The LFW registration page submits data directly into the LFW GRID, visible to DBCA and NRM officers in real-time

We also set up the system to trigger an email to the LFW program coordinator and relevant regional NRM group as soon as a new application is submitted.

The system is based on our GRID product (Geographic & Reporting Information Database). This is an easy-to-use, online geographical information system (GIS) for regional NRM groups.

It allows regional NRM staff to record valuable information about NRM work in their region (for example, weed control, revegetation etc) and encourages real-time collaboration between staff within an NRM group, and across multiple NRM groups working on the same project.

GRID was originally developed for South West Catchments Council and is currently in use in seven NRM groups, and two other whole-of-state programs (State NRM and the Dieback Information Delivery and Management System).

GRID is a great example of how NRM groups can leverage and build upon each other’s investment in one system, resulting in a product that is tailored for each group’s specific needs but grounded in a common platform with which the vast majority of the NRM community are familiar.

For LFW we worked closely with DBCA, Peel-Harvey Catchment Council (PHCC) and the other regional NRM groups to tailor this version of GRID to suit the workflow and partnership-based delivery of the LFW program. This work was completed as part of a State NRM Program funded project, managed by the PHCC and DBCA.

If you’d like to know more about GRID and how it can help you improve collaboration and efficiency in your organisation and partnerships, please send me an email or start a conversation via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Gill

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