Drones, DNA profiling and ultra-sensitive listening devices are being deployed in conservation efforts safeguarding the UK’s forests as the battle to reverse biodiversity decline and manage climate change goes hi-tech.
Forestry England (FE) is gathering data on the variety of wildlife in some of its 1,500 woodlands at an unprecedented pace and level of detail.
The body is harvesting environmental DNA – genetic material shed by organisms in an ecosystem – from soil, water and air samples to build a picture of the range of species across 21 forests.
