In Guyana, where forests cover over 80 percent of the country, the threat of illegal logging is ever present. A lot of the time, it’s hard to even know if it’s happening. That’s in part because the country’s population is so small, just 735,000 people to keep watch on 83,000 square miles of country.
But around 9,000 of those residents are Wapichan, an indigenous community living the country’s southern region, where forests are repeatedly threatened. Wapichan community members had long sought ways to fight the loggers, who were threatening their homes, but, according to Quartz, found it hard to persuade the government to intervene, in part because they couldn’t always prove illegal logging was happening.
That’s where drones come in. Or, specifically, one drone, a fixed-wing model that tribe members built, incredibly, by watching DIY videos on YouTube. A camera mounted on the drone captures images of the logging, evidence the Wapichan community can then take to the Guyanese government.
The drone has now been documenting the forests for months, and the Wapichan’s struggle with combating the loggers continues. According to Quartz, they are optimistic that the country’s new president, elected last year, will work with them.
“We are the guardians of the forest,” Nicolas Fredericks, a Wapichan leader, told Quartz. “We will not stand for [its] destruction in the name of development.”
TooShiftyForYou on August 3rd, 2018 at 14:49 UTC »
Materials are scarce in Guyana, and to build a functioning prototype, according to Quartz, "they used bowstrings to tie parts together and a lollipop stick as an impromptu drill.",The camera, programmed to take a photo every other second, allowed the Wapichan tribe to digitally stitch the images together, post-flight, to create a map of potentially incriminating areas, using freely available "Mission Planner" software. They named the drone Kowada, or Osprey, and continued to improve its reliability by hunting for parts and materials in the nearby South Rupununi area.
The drone looks pretty well constructed.
Truckerontherun on August 3rd, 2018 at 14:29 UTC »
Just wait until they see the videos on arming the drones
CommaHorror on August 3rd, 2018 at 14:08 UTC »
Kind of depressing as they are still fighting the logging and it looks, like nothing is nor will really be done about it...
"The drone has, now been documenting the forests for, months and the, Wapichan’s struggle with combating the loggers, continues. According to Quartz they are, optimistic that the country’s new president elected last, year will work with them."