Category: Coffee & Carbon

Flying drones for forest-monitoring is no small undertaking, and relies on having well-trained pilots on-the-ground. Pilots with the Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI), who are working on drone maps of the Yoro Biological Corridor (pictured here) are attending a 4-day long workshop/training session in the use, management, and safety of flying drones.

Topics covered in the training included things like civil aeronautical rules, flight tricks for avoiding potential hazards (e.g. obstacles, or interference in the connection with the remote control) and cloud identification for safe flights.

The training was sponsored by FUNACH (Fundación en Acción Comunitaria de Honduras), a project organization that belongs to the group of co-managers of the Yoro Biological Corridor. FUNACH’s development objective is “To ensure food security and increase families’ income through the introduction of sustainable and ecologically sound agricultural production methods.”

And the workshop was taught by FUNACH General Manager, Ángel Irías and Certified Drone Pilot, Miguel Muños.

Yoro Biological Corridor coffee farmers and program participants have been engaging in scientific training for how to accurately analyze carbon in soil this past week.

The training is a mix of field and classroom work. Team members are learning how to capture a soil sample, as well as how to measure the carbon and nutrient levels in a sample.

And it’s all taking place at the new research field station, which is now up a running with internet and multimedia presentations 🙌

Drones are the latest addition to the Yoro Biological Corridor team, and everyone in the community is excited about them!

These drones will be used to accurately map and monitor the forest canopy on IOC coffee farms. They make it easy, efficient, and fun to collect data … Once you learn how to fly them of course!

And their first task is to provide researchers with a high-level detailed vegetation maps of 40 farms.

Supplies are taking off from the city of Yoro to the small rural town of Subirana; the coffee-growing lands.

And they’re arriving at a farm that’s being turned into a field research station!

This will provide a hub for researchers and community members. A place where they can gather, share/compare data, use the internet, have a meal, and even wash their clothes, which can get easily drenched depending on how the weather swings that day, rain or heat!