Drones

Expanding Our Aerial Restoration Capacity

Rainforest Rising has expanded its restoration toolkit with two new drones, each designed to support a different but complementary stage of large-scale ecological restoration. Together, they allow us to observe landscapes more accurately, respond adaptively, and deliver biological inputs efficiently—even across large or difficult-to-access sites.

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drone flying rainforest hills

High-Resolution Habitat & Terrain Monitoring

Our smaller, highly maneuverable drone is dedicated to habitat and terrain monitoring. It allows us to collect detailed, site-specific data that informs restoration design, implementation, and adaptive management.

This platform supports:

  • Fine-scale mapping of vegetation cover and bare ground
  • Terrain assessment, drainage patterns, and microtopography
  • Baseline and follow-up monitoring to track restoration outcomes
  • Data-informed decision-making throughout the project lifecycle

What our eyes see in RGB is only part of the story. When we layer in near-infrared (NIR) spectral imagery, plants begin to “speak” through their reflectance—revealing patterns of vigor, stress, and moisture that are invisible to the eye. This allows us to detect where soils are drying, where pests or disease may be encroaching, and where intervention may be needed long before decline is visible on the ground. By comparing RGB and NIR views of the same habitat, we gain a powerful tool for adaptive management. We can then adjust seeding strategies, target compost extracts and biological soil infusions, and track restoration progress with precision over time. Spectral imagery turns aerial footage into actionable ecological insight, helping us steward habitats more responsively and effectively.

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Our new EFT Z50, capable of en-masse seedpod-dispersion over extended terrain.
Aerial Delivery of Liquid Biology and Enhanced Seeds

Our larger drone enables aerial delivery at meaningful scale, allowing us to distribute restoration inputs efficiently across broad areas while minimizing soil disturbance, labor, and cost.

This platform is used for:

  • Application of biologically rich compost extract, brewed and tested in our lab for microbial diversity and living biomass before deployment
  • High-volume delivery of seedpods, designed to protect seeds and improve establishment in challenging conditions

This approach allows us to introduce living biology and native seeds precisely where they are needed—supporting soil function, plant establishment, and long-term ecosystem resilience.

Designed for Collaboration and Scale

These tools are not just for our projects. They are part of Rainforest Rising’s broader commitment to collaborative, open-source restoration. We work alongside landholders, researchers, agencies, and conservation organizations to pilot, refine, and share approaches that help restoration efforts scale responsibly and effectively.

As landscapes face increasing pressure from climate change and habitat loss, tools that unite data, biology, and delivery at scale are essential. These new capabilities move us closer to that future.

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drone flight americas now
Radical Scalability

Droneseeding’s true strength is scalability. Whether deployed by five teams or five hundred, the technology remains the same. Fleets can be automated. They do not tire. They reach steep, remote, or sensitive terrain that people and equipment often cannot. They are often faster, safer, and more cost-effective than manual planting—and the more they scale, the more efficient they become.

When combined with enhanced seeds and accelerated germination, drone delivery lifts restoration from incremental to exponential. It allows us to move beyond pilot plots and into landscape-scale impact—restoring habitat at the pace the current ecological crises demand.

Even colossal restoration numbers are not enough. Trees, for example: planting an unimaginable 15 billion trees would only replace the 15 billion mature trees that Mother Earth already loses each year. Matching loss is not recovery – it’s treading water.

That’s why at Rainforest Rising we are swinging for the fences.

Our work is about changing the equation entirely – by accelerating germination and developing scalable delivery systems, we focus on creating ecosystems that can regenerate themselves, year after year.

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We have Agency. We can regreen the Earth.

Specs

drones supervolo

SuperVolo

A long-range vertical take-off and landing drone engineered for diverse payload configurations, this is the large-scale mapping and data-gathering drone we will add to our stable. It has a self-charging hybrid gas/electric system for extended endurance.

  • Maximum flight time: 8 hours.
  • Maximum speed: 75mph/120kph.

The sensing elements analyze large tracts in minute detail including speciation, wildlife, invasives, competition density, etc. State-of-the-art spectral analysis will also allow us to determine critical surface details including canopy height and soil moisture. As remote sensing continues to develop we’ll be able to measure soil pH, compaction, mineral content, toxic profile, and more.

drones quadkite

QuadKite

The Quadkite is our heavy-lift workhorse for seedball dispersion.

drones rock robotic lidar payload

LiDAR Imaging

  • Scan rate: 240,000 points per second.
  • Up to 3 returns per point.
  • 14 points per square foot.
  • System accuracy: 5cm
  • Position accuracy: 0.5cm (as used with PPK)
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