Tyumen forests protected by drones
A small aircraft takes off sharply from the inclined turret and is quickly lost in the milky April sky. Under the wing are the forests, roads and forests of the Nizhnetavda district. The picture can be seen on three monitors at once, there is a map of the area, coordinates and live video.
This ZALA 421-16E UAV is not a toy for shooting beautiful panoramas or recreational piloting. This expensive and serious equipment was created by ZALA AERO, a leading domestic manufacturer of unmanned systems. The unmanned complex is controlled by two operators, and the monitoring complex is located on an off-road minibus. The operating altitude of the apparatus is about 700 metres and the coverage of the territory is up to 50 kilometres. In other words, the efficiency compared to road patrolling by cars is an order of magnitude higher.
With the help of this marvellous piece of equipment, employees of the Department of Forestry Complex and the State Hunting Department of the Tyumen Region conduct a joint raid to detect violations of forest legislation and stop illegal logging. Such visits have recently been conducted regularly and have already proved their effectiveness. Only from January to March 2019 in the Vagayskoye lesnichestvo, employees of the Department of Forestry Complex and the State Hunting Department identified seven cases of illegal logging worth over 12.5 million roubles, identified the perpetrators and handed over the materials to the police.
According to Anatoly Yukhnov, chief specialist of the Federal State Forest Supervision Department, illegal logging is already considered a criminal offence if the damage exceeds 5 thousand roubles.
- Regardless of whether a live tree has been cut down or a fallen tree has been sawn, if there is a cut and a chainsaw or mechanical tools are used, such cutting is already considered illegal," Yukhnov explains. - The cost of a tree is calculated depending on the category of forests and proximity to a settlement. In protective forests, one tree is usually valued at more than 5,000 roubles, while in operational forests it is usually a little lower.
At the same time, during such raids, of course, the first priority is to identify major violators of forest legislation, although they do not make exceptions for anyone.
Specialist comment:
- The aviation complex, which was purchased by the regional government in 2018, fulfils various tasks. It is used to monitor illegal logging and quarries, search for poachers on the territory of all 22 districts of the region. We also help with the control of water and biological resources, determination of fire hotspots. With the appearance of the complex our work has become much more effective. There are places where we cannot even drive snowmobiles. In addition, we save resources, including fuel and lubricants. Moreover, the equipment allows us to find poachers not only during the day, but also at night.
