Page 71 - InvestAlberta-EDA-2025

The pilot project took place in two burn sites
in remote areas of northern Alberta. Both locations
had experienced fire in the previous year, but,
because of their locations, traditional tree-planting
techniques would be costly and time intensive.
“It’s very difficult to get planters into these
sites because you have to helicopter them in, and
they’re so far from roads that you need to set up
camps and bring in all of the gear so that they can
stay up there for a few weeks,” says Cameron Jones,
co-founder and chief operating officer for Flash
Forest. “We wanted to see if by using drones we
could really make reforestation that much faster.”
The drones perform at a pace manual tree
planters simply cannot achieve — planting
nearly 40 seed pods per second. Although not
every seed pod will successfully grow into a tree,
the volume planted means reforestation efforts
stand a good chance of succeeding.
With tens of thousands of seed pods planted
daily, Flash Forest aims to see about 1,500 seedlings
successfully germinate on each hectare. Two years
after planting in the Fort McMurray pilot areas, the
company has met that goal.
“We were right within our target for both
of these sites and that’s after a few growing
seasons, so they’ve gone through big mortality
events — heat waves, harsh winters, predation,”
says Jones. “But even after that, we were right
around the density we were looking for.”
“WE WANTED TO SEE IF BY
USING DRONES WE COULD
REALLY MAKE REFORESTATION
THAT MUCH FASTER.”
— CAMERON JONES,
CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER,
FLASH FOREST
Data backs every part of Flash Forest’s approach. From the makeup of the
seed pods themselves — designed to help seedlings survive harsh conditions
— to the use of geospatial technology to map out and efficiently plant in an
area, the company is continually using science to improve its approach. Most
recently, the company has been using machine learning models to analyze burn
areas and optimize its reforestation efforts. By understanding how different areas
are affected by sunlight, rainfall or terrain features, Flash Forest can adjust its
approach to encourage better survival rates for seedlings.
“Before we go and plant we can map an entire burn and we’ll see this is an
ideal place for drone planting, this is an area that would be great for species
that we would plant and these are the ratios that we should be planting those
trees,” says Jones.
With every growing season that passes, the company continues to adapt and
refine its technology to improve success rates.
“It’s iterations and improvement. We’re always trying to understand what’s
successful and why, so we can keep doing better,” says Jones.
With G7 countries committing to net zero by 2050, reforestation using drone
technology opens new possibilities for reaching these climate targets.
BREWING HOPE
Calgary-based brewery Best of Kin is embracing the possibilities of honey
from fireweed — one of the first flowers to bloom in the aftermath of fire. The
brewery crafted its special edition lager, Fire Bloom, from this unique honey.
“It’s a really cool plant. It’s always there in the forest and doesn’t need a lot
of sunlight to re-germinate each year,” explains Ryan Mortson, co-founder of
Best of Kin. “But after a big wildfire, when all the other vegetation’s gone, it’s
the first thing that grows. It just thrives.”
The lager was the latest in a series of community fundraising efforts by
the brewery, which had previously supported social and health causes. Fire
Bloom was its first foray into the environmental realm, with a portion of the
proceeds from each beer supporting efforts to reforest Alberta through a
collaboration with Project Forest.
Within the first six months of launching the lager, Best of Kin produced
nearly 13,000 litres of the beer. It gained national media attention and is now
stocked in liquor stores across Alberta.
AMPLIFY. ATTRACT. ACCELERATE.
Photo: Ryan Mortson (Best of Kin Brewery)
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