EPAA showcases innovative technologies for protection of natural resources

Participating in the UAE Innovation Week 2016, the Environment & Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) - Sharjah is displaying how DJI quadcopters were used to achieve its objectives
 
Sharjah, November 24, 2016:  The Environment & Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) - Sharjah has been showcasing innovative use of technology for protection and study of natural resources, environmental education as well as for law enforcement. Participating in the UAE Innovation Week 2016 activities being held at the Expo Centre Sharjah, the Authority is displaying how DJI quadcopters were used to achieve its objectives.

John Pereira, Researcher at the Environment & Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) - Sharjah, said that the unmanned aircraft help them showcase the spectacular beauty of the natural world in a manner previously only reserved to a few documentary filmmakers and experts, today every naturalist can show the beauty of the natural world in all its 4K glory.

“Conservation initiatives worldwide are benefitting greatly from the magnitude of spectacular images taken by enthusiasts, if we can conjure appreciation, half the battle is won,” he added.

He said that the EPAA recently experimented using DJI quadcopters to count and study the turtle population and behaviour in Khor Kalba, one of the most biodiverse areas in the UAE that supports numerous rare species.

He said, “The quadcopters provided valuable insight into the abundance of turtles in Kalba. Initial results far exceeded our wildest expectations. We realised we had far more turtles than our biggest estimates. During our experimental turtle counting project, three turtle species were recorded utilising the site for feeding: Green Turtle, Loggerhead Turtle and Hawksbill Turtle.”

Pereira said that it helped them collect accurate data as the DJI Quardcore has strict Grid pattern flight, the drones fly at fixed altitude of 20m-100m, photos are taken at 2.5 second’s intervals and constant speed is maintained. All images come with a GPS tag.

“With DJI quadcopters, only minimal resources are required to produce very accurate topographic models of the environment. Very accurate position data can be collected of each turtle. These locations are captured using GIS applications to map the occurrence of turtles throughout the habitat,” he added. 
Quadcopter provides access to areas not usually accessible during high tides. It also provides a comprehensive overview of movements of turtles. Minimal manpower is required for a comprehensive count. Completely non-invasive method, no animals are stressed during the survey.

“Counts are indicating turtle hotspots throughout the mangrove habitat. Areas of significant importance for turtles can be clearly identified and highlighted for priority protection,” he added.

Also on display is the award-winning “Advanced Surveillance System” developed by a team of students from Delhi Private School, Sharjah. It is aimed at introducing an immensely efficient security system for protected wildlife areas, thus providing a solution to eliminate the loopholes in the existing protection systems for protected wildlife areas so as to reduce the high levels of poaching, which poses one of the biggest threats to wildlife.