In 2017 our proposal with Biocarbon Engineering won the inaugural BridgeBuilder Challenge, securing $242,800 from the GHR Foundation to deploy tree-mapping and tree-planting drones in the delta region of Myanmar.
The drones first fly over an area to map it, collecting topography and soil data that is combined with satellite imagery to determine the best location for each seed pod. Two operators with ten drones can theoretically plant 400,000 trees in a day.
Within a year, seed pods fired into the delta mud had sprouted into 20-inch mangrove saplings. The work was featured on Al Jazeera Earthrise, Reuters, Fast Company and The Hindu — and trained local villagers to collect seeds and manage the growing forest.