Drones to monitor forest in the Azores
The Government of the Azores is going to build four drones for the monitoring of forestry projects and support the work of updating the Forest Inventory in the region, an investment of 168 thousand euros.
“The regional secretary of Agriculture and Forestry has authorized the awarding of these four fixed-wing drones and maintenance parts for the production of orthophoto maps, following the public tender promoted by the Regional Directorate of Forestry Resources strengthening forest monitoring “.
“In addition to monitoring private forestry projects approved under PRORURAL +, the drones are very important to comply with the ongoing work to update the Forest Inventory in the Azores,” said the regional secretary for Agriculture and Forests, João Ponte, quoted in a note from the government.
Unmanned drones capable of performing scheduled flights in real-time and at higher altitudes, covering a larger area.
The Forestry Inventory, which “began by São Miguel, will extend to the remaining islands,” the secretary of state also said.
The Regional Directorate of Forest Resources “has already implemented the photographic coverage of more than 45% of the San Miguel area,” including large forest areas of the municipalities of the Northeast and the Village, the central part of the island and the area of the Seven Cities, a total area covered that exceeds 34 thousand hectares in the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Faial.
The Forest Inventory “is a very important planning instrument for the management and support of political decision-making in this sector”, notes the note from the Regional Government
“This document intends to know, for example, the species existing in the forest, their composition, volume and age,” adds João Ponte.
