Agricultural drone manufacturer XAG has announced that it has joined the first-ever post-fire drone seeding operation on Lake Cobrico, a swamp wildlife reserve located near Warrnambool in Southwest Victoria, Australia. 

A collective effort to restore Australia from wildfire devastation, the project, which was funded by Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and managed by Heytesbury District Landcare Network (HDLN), marks the first time that agricultural drones are being used to re-establish native vegetation within a fire-ravaged peat swamp in Australia.

In April, XAG sent three sets of its P Series drones, equipped with the JetSeed granule spreading system, to distribute native seeds directly on Lake Cobrico. Using a blend of 12 different seeds, approximately 40 hectares of burned land was replenished with new plants within just two days.

XAG and HDLN will spend the next six months closely monitoring the results of the drone seeding. They will also compare the drone seeding with that of the other area where plants are going to regrow naturally. The project is expected to be replicated across the region and state, especially within the areas where traditional techniques cannot be applied.

During the 2018 St Patrick’s Day Fire, part of the peatland was severely damaged, with the vegetation and deeper soil layers left in ruins. According to XAG, in areas of high burn severity, the ecosystem itself might be unable to regenerate naturally, making human intervention such as direct seeding necessary for fire recovery. The company adds that re-establishment of native vegetation can slow down erosion and sedimentation, and suppress invasive weeds after a wildfire.

Seeding can be done using XAG drones on Lake Cobrico, where landowners and managers used to find it difficult to restore the wet, inaccessible fire-impacted areas. During the operation, the drones accurately followed the pre-set flight route, while harnessing high-speed airflows to project seeds from 2-3 meters above the ground. To make sure that the proper amount of seed was distributed evenly into the targeted bare land, seeding rates could also be precisely controlled and adjusted in real time, which has limited the exposure of staffs and ground vehicles to rugged terrain, and helped avoid the use of either too much or too little seeds.

“This project wouldn’t be able to go ahead in the normal manner because some areas of Lake Cobrico are unstable,” HDLN co-ordinator Geoff Rollinson explained in an interview with Cobden Timboon Coast Times.

XAG is the first business in Australia to obtain swarm flight approval from Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), allowing up to five drones to be operated by one pilot to increase efficiency.

XAG notes that seeding by hand or ground equipment is inapplicable to Lake Cobrico where part of the peat swamp is difficult to access. This approach could also disturb the vulnerable post-fire vegetation and soil. Using a plane or helicopter for aerial seeding can cover a larger area, but these approaches are costly, and could result in seed drift and uneven distribution that could negatively affect a successful outcome.

“The trial project in Lake Cobrico demonstrates the best practice of drones to regenerate fire-impact peat swamps in a safe, cost-effective manner, without human or mechanical trampling on vegetation cover,” XAG says.

“XAG’s drone seeding solution is now recommended by DELWP and HDLN as a ‘well-designed and sustainable option for environmental restoration works.’”