Trials exploring the use of heavy-lift drones across forestry tasks and wildlife management have identified further promising, potentially game-changing applications for unmanned aircraft.

The work, delivered with DroneWild — which is licensed and insured to operate the aircraft — is FLS's fourth collaboration with the Scottish Government's CivTech programme (Round 9, 2023), set up to improve the effectiveness of wildlife management and the health and safety of Wildlife Rangers.

The drones tested can carry loads of up to 100kg and are authorised to fly BVLOS-VM (Beyond Visual Line of Sight – Visual Mitigations) to a distance of up to 2,000 metres from the pilot, supported by a spotter positioned halfway.

Although the aircraft have onboard cameras, the spotter provides radio guidance to the pilot and confirms that loads — for example fencing materials or a deer carcass secured in a large carry-bag — are safely attached before clearing the pilot to lift.

Both the SORA (Specific Operational Risk Assessment) and the field trials were approved by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Grant Carson, FLS' Wildlife Ranger Manager, said: "This is the latest example of drone-based logistics in wildlife management and these heavy lift trials could be a major step change for our field work with several potential applications.

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"These trials have proven how effective drones can be in significantly reducing the health and safety challenges that foresters and wildlife rangers have to plan for and manage.

"Whether it's taking fencing materials to or away from remote and difficult to access locations, or extracting deer carcasses, many forestry jobs are extremely physically demanding.

"The potential applications to which drones like these can be put could be a real game changer for forestry operations."

Installing or removing deer fencing typically involves transporting heavy rolls of wire, posts and tools across rugged, hard-to-reach terrain that is often inaccessible to ground vehicles.

Helicopters can move materials but add significant carbon emissions and cost to operations.

Similarly, deer are frequently culled in remote areas to address unsustainable populations and negative impacts, but to enter the human food chain safely the carcass must reach a larder for processing as quickly as possible — a task that can require a ranger to haul it for several miles to reach a vehicle.

Using a heavy-lift drone with a slung carry-bag to ferry carcasses to a forest road for onward vehicle transport is both more efficient and safer, reducing risks to wildlife staff.

DroneWild Director and drone pilot, Ben Harrower, said: "The early results have been very encouraging.

"Working alongside the FLS team has been a real pleasure, and the trials are already showing where this technology can reduce cost, carbon and risk while opening up parts of the estate that are otherwise hard to reach.

"We look forward to building on this and developing the work further over the coming months."

DroneWild has also supported FLS's wider exploration of drone technology, including earlier trials of drone-mounted thermal imaging cameras to locate deer, improving population counts and assisting deer management.

Grant added: "Heavy-lift drones have the potential to reduce the risk to wildlife rangers' physical health and well-being, make better use of their time and also help to reduce the risk of carcasses spoiling or being contaminated during transportation.

"Drones open up deer management in challenging locations to more people, which has the added benefit of giving us greater workforce flexibility."