Drones to Drop Tree Seeds to Boost Koala Population

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The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is planning to drop gum tree seeds using drones to boost the population of koalas on Australia’s east coast. Through the new initiative, the organization aims to rehabilitate forests that were scorched during the Australian wildfires in late 2019 and early 2020. As gum tree leaves are koalas' primary food source, the WWF is hoping that the initiative can help double the animals' population. WWF-Australia is aiming to raise $210 million over the next five years to fund the drones and other initiatives to restore forest habitats. The Australian wildfires, declared one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history, killed or displaced three billion animals and destroyed around seven billion trees. They also killed around 34 people and burned down nearly 3,000 houses. According to experts, climate change causes wildfires and droughts to worsen, posing an ongoing threat to koalas by reducing the quality of their diet of gum tree leaves. If there are no prompt measures to protect them and their habitat, koalas in New South Wales may go extinct by 2050. According to WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman, unprecedented and drastic actions are needed to address the wildfire crisis. He explained that using drones is one possible solution, as they can drop large amounts of seeds and easily reach inaccessible areas. O’Gorman said some of the specialized drones can plant 40,000 seeds a day and will help create corridors that enable koalas and other animals to move across forests that were destroyed by the fires.