Our forests are a vital part of our wildlife and communities, with tree planting at the forefront of reforestation efforts. The Government of Canada is investing in revitalizing our forest ecosystems - including by planting two billion trees. As part of this initiative, communities and industries from coast to coast to coast are raising saplings, planting trees and bringing innovative technologies to the table.
Remotely piloted aircraft systems, such as drones, are used in various sectors across our economy, from delivery methods to search and rescue operations. Now, they are making their mark in Canada's forest sector.
Today, Peter Fonseca, Member of Parliament for Mississauga East-Cooksville, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, announced a contribution of over $1.3 million to Flash Forest, a company that uses drone technology for tree planting. A total of over one million trees are set to be planted by Flash Forest over the next two years.
Using new technology in an effort to innovate and improve tree-planting initiatives in Canada, Flash Forest uses drones, advanced seed pods, automation and machine learning to plant in some of the most severe forest fire sites across Canada.
The sites will be monitored for germination success and to obtain survival data on the success of using drones for planting instead of traditional tree-planting methods. The project will use rapid drone deployment technology using AI, biological seed pods and robotic process automation to improve germination and the survival of temperate and boreal tree species in Canada.
Once seed pods are planted, forest growth will be monitored over consecutive seasons. The reforestation method employed by Flash Forest, which aims to plant at least 10 times faster than traditional methods and significantly cut costs, allows for rapid post-wildfire response within months of the fire, higher biodiversity and data-driven ecosystem restoration.
The federal contribution is made through the 2 Billion Trees program (2BT), which supports tree-planting projects with the aim of planting two billion trees over 10 years and helps to advance the nature-based solutions needed to get to net-zero emissions by 2050.
