Drone Planter

We may think drones are just fun toys, but they could be a useful tool for helping our natural environments. Lauren Fletcher, a former NASA engineer, created a drone that can shoot tree seeds into the ground! We need lots of trees because they produce the oxygen we breathe, reduce air pollution, and are home to many different animals. However, many companies around the world are cutting down trees to produce items or clear areas for homes or farms. Lauren knew his drone could benefit many people, but he needed somewhere to test it out.

In 2018 he used the drone to plant seeds in an area of Myanmar, a country in Asia, where trees were not growing. Less than a year later, thousands of the seeds sprouted into mangrove saplings! This test confirmed which species of trees the drones can plant, and what conditions are needed for planting. Lauren believes his company, Biocarbon Engineering, can send out a group of drones that could plant 400,000 trees a day, operated by only two people! As a comparison, it took 7 years to plant 6 million trees in Myanmar using traditional methods. With the help of the drones, they're hoping to plant 4 million trees by the end of 2019.

How could you help your community plant trees? Show us your ideas in the design section!