Planting trees by helicopter

Forests destroyed by fires or illegal timber felling can be regenerated quickly thanks to an aerial technique.

C-Questor in the city of Weybridge, Surrey county of England has found a technique to drop seedlings from helicopters. This technique not only greatly increases the recovery rate of the forest, but also helps reduce the cost of seeding and planting.

Jeff Burley - a scientist working for C-Questor and former head of the Oxford University Forestry Institute, affirmed that 75% of the seeds released from above had no chance of germinating because they fell into an unsuitable area. or be eaten by animals.

Photo: treehuggers.com.

In order to overcome the loss of seeds, C-Questor engineers built plastic cones that could biodegrade. Each box has soil, chemical compounds that hold water and seedlings 15 cm tall. When released from a height of about 7 meters, the tip of the box will be inserted deep into the soil.

While the boxes are dropped, three plastic legs will stick out to help the seedlings grow straight. A helicopter can drop 200 boxes in one takeoff. The whole drop process is controlled by the computer.

C-Questor hopes that its technology will be tested later this year in Brazil. If successful, the company will focus on restoring tropical forests with many hardwoods.