Agriculture, tourism, conservation and disaster recovery – drone technology is revolutionising many aspects of life in the Caribbean
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hey look like robotic toys but can save lives, protect ecosystems, boost crops and highlight the best of the Caribbean’s stunning beauty. Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are rapidly growing in popularity and, as they take over the skies, users are finding they have a wide application in the region.
ASSISTING AGRICULTURE
As the agriculture industry moves to harness more technology, drones have an important part to play in lowering costs and improving yields, particularly against a backdrop of rising production costs, intensifying natural disasters and increased competition.
“Global agricultural has had to make some creative moves,” says Jovan Parusic, Business Development Manager at agricultural sensing and analysis platform Agremo which has assisted Caribbean farmers in using drones to analyze banana, mango, coffee and avocado plantations and enhance seasonal monitoring. “Based on our inputs, growers were able to optimize production, prepare logistics and manpower for harvest, detect different types of stresses and apply needed measures in time,” explains Parusic. “Besides having insights on a plant’s overall health and accurate number of plants, [farmers] have solid proof of how their fields are doing throughout the season.”
Parusic believes the technology is on the rise in the region, boosted by younger farmers’ willingness to embrace innovation. “We at Agremo are very proud of the Caribbean agricultural community for their devotion to the cause, and willingness to think outside the box. I have to admit that [the Caribbean] has embraced the technology and its benefits much sooner than a majority of Western European countries. More growers, especially younger age growers, are willing to try and invest in new tech and see the benefits for themselves.”
Drones are set to further transform the region’s agricultural industry in the long-term. Parusic says that UAVs, in combination with other sensors, can work in swarms to perform spraying, monitoring and harvesting. “This will lead to improved food production and ultimately saving our planet. It sounds complicated and more like science fiction but soon will be as normal as using a smartphone.”
DISASTER RECOVERY
Following last year’s back-to-back hurricanes, Irma and Maria, farmers in the storm-hit islands faced severe devastation, some losing 100 per cent of their crops. With their livelihood in ruins, immediate and accurate damage assessment was crucial to helping them rebuild. Drone operators can quickly and easily capture aerial images of a farmer’s land, showing which plants are damaged, which require immediate attention and which can be saved. This type of data can help farmers recoup their losses, plan for next year’s harvest and prepare documentation for insurance claims with accurate ‘before’ and ‘after’ imaging.
Agremo helped farmers in Puerto Rico get back on track after the storms and Parusic says: “Professional damage assessment is one of the most important things to do after such an event. Drone imagery can act as evidence in insurance claims, especially if fields were monitored throughout the season and there are images of what they looked like before the damage occurred.”
In the wake of a disaster, drone benefits go beyond agriculture. They can also be used for search and rescue missions in the immediate aftermath – finding survivors, helping rescuers avoid treacherous areas and giving instant updates on infrastructure conditions. Once the dust has settled, drones can help insurance companies settle claims as quickly as possible. Use of UAVs drastically reduces the amount of time and manpower spent on assessing damage, which speeds up the entire rebuilding process. Drones played a huge role after last year’s hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, helping restore cellular service in Puerto Rico, identifying flood flashpoints in Texas after Harvey and providing real time news coverage of Irma-affected areas.
CONSERVATION INNOVATION
Technology is changing the face of conservation, and drones are at the forefront of this movement as they give environmentalists unparalleled insight into wildlife and habitats. Using the drone’s bird’s eye view, scientists can now track and monitor rare species, survey ecosystems and assess environmental damage.
In May, the Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean and the Carnegie Institution for Science teamed up with aerospace technology firm Planet to launch an exciting new initiative – creating the first ever high-resolution map of the entire Caribbean basin. Some of the field data for the project will be collected by drones and will help establish a comprehensive and highly accurate database of information on the region’s vulnerable coral reef ecosystem. The data will be shared with governments, conservation groups and other stakeholders so they can better protect and understand the region’s vulnerable marine ecosystems.
Drones can protect the environment from natural hazards, but they are also a handy tool in cracking down on manmade threats. The Caribbean is a huge region and many countries just don’t have the resources to police all the territory within their borders. Deploying UAVs would help these states crack down on poachers and polluters, no matter how far from shore they are.
In 2015 Jamaica, which loses around US$19m a year to illegal fishing, ran a successful anti-poaching pilot project in which drones ran through a series of test flights and transmitted live video feed as they patrolled the skies.
TECHNOLOGY TOURISM
For the tech-minded tourist, selfies just don’t cut it anymore. The sweeping aerial photography provided by drones captures the many colours of the Caribbean like never before and tourists are increasingly bringing their UAVs on vacation so they can grab instagram-worthy shots. There’s also been high demand in recent years for drone photography that covers special events like weddings or conferences.
Major hotels and resorts are also getting onboard with the trend, using UAV imagery for their promotional and marketing materials. Anyone involved in tourism marketing knows that visuals sell and the blues of the Caribbean waters are known to be particularly photogenic. Using drones not only produces high-quality video, it also cuts down on the manpower, time and risks to the environment involved in sending out photographers.
Last year, Caribbean tourism took a hit following the 2017 devastating hurricane season. Many overseas visitors, unfamiliar with the region’s geography, assumed that the entire area was closed for business. Drones could have shown them otherwise. Having UAVs send images of pristine, untouched islands to the world may well have mitigated some of the reputational damage and lured tourists back to the area faster.
CONCERNS AND CHALLENGES
The Federal Aviation Administration predicts that between 2016 and 2021, the number of commercial drones will increase by around 58% and there could be as many as 6.12 million drones in the sky by 2021.
As the market for drones gets bigger, the drones themselves will change, becoming smaller, less expensive and more agile. This opens up even more possibilities for their application. If the Caribbean is to fully embrace the technology, however, there must be more consistency in terms of national and regional regulation. So far, the islands have mostly been playing catch-up, introducing regulation in an ad hoc manner that has left drone enthusiasts confused.
In Saint Lucia, drones are legal but there are a number of restrictions. They cannot be flown within 2.5 miles of an airport or heliport, they’re banned around busy roads and bridges and cannot fly over crowds, events, forests or prisons. They also cannot be more than 400ft above ground. These restrictions reflect the most common concerns surrounding drones: privacy and security. “Drones are an amazing tool but, just like any other vehicle, pretty dangerous if not used properly,” says Parusic.
All technology comes with risks but these must be weighed against the far-reaching benefits of UAVs. They may have started out as highly specialised military technology but drones are now in the hands of hobbyists, travellers, farmers, and environmentalists, all of whom are using them to transform life in the Caribbean.
