Open Access

Nadzeyah Hazawannee Amir

• This thesis conducted a two-fold approach to develop a sustainable reforestation framework that integrates Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that focuses on early tree establishment. The research was prompted by a project for mangrove reforestation in Pakistan which aimed to utilise UAVs as a medium. Prior to the project’s initiation, several questions have emerged in consideration to reforestation success. The thesis begins by conducting a desk study that reviews factors of mortality and success of reforestation. Coupled with the growing interest to integrate UAVs into environmental conservation and preservation, a field experiment was then conducted. Based on this, a field experiment was created. It was designed to provide a baseline assessment on the drone’s first flight performance. Due to logistical issues, a field experiment was conducted in Germany instead of Pakistan, with similar physical characteristics of the site of reforestation. Main findings from this thesis includes: 1. Sowing depths from a higher altitude garnered more depths, 2. Most seeds were below 1cm of depth, 3. Published literature indicates that early tree establishment begins from a thorough examination of the environmental space, which includes the existing fauna as symbiotic relationships were essential to tree establishment, and 4. UAV-integrated research as main tools outside of monitoring were few. These findings are then synthesized and integrated to create the Sustainable UAV-Integrated Reforestation Framework (SURF). The framework was designed to be holistic and dynamic, with emphasis on ecological factors – an element that is often made secondary in reforestation policies or projects. Yet, a couple of drawbacks can be observed as the thesis experiment was only brief and garnered a relatively small sample.