Drones and AI team up to reforest Rio de Janeiro

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STORY: This drone is part of a high-tech push to speed

up reforestation efforts in Rio de Janeiro

The drones buzz through the air and disperse

seeds in areas that are hard to reach

Their target area and the number of seeds dropped

is determined by AI, according to the local government

Rio’s city hall partnered with

startup Morfo for the green initiative

(Gregory Maitre, CEO of Morfo)

“If a person plants seeds manually, he gets to plant an average of a hectare per day in accessible areas. With a drone, each drone gets to plant 50 hectares per day as one person gets to drive three drones at the same time. So, productivity of planting with a drone is very big. In addition, it can access areas that are risky for humans or difficult to access.”

One drone can disperse 180

seed capsules per minute

That’s 100 times faster

than human hands