On May 8th at 11:00 CET, the MOD Alliance hosted an engaging and informative webinar exploring how drone-based technologies are transforming the way we monitor marine ecosystems. Titled “Mapping Blue Forests and Coastal Habitats: A Drone’s Eye Perspective”, the session attracted 63 participants from across the globe.
The MOD Alliance is a collaborative communication platform uniting the efforts of three Horizon Europe sister projects: MARCO-BOLO, OBAMA-NEXT, and DiverSea. This partnership focuses on sharing knowledge, tools, and insights that support sustainable marine monitoring and conservation. We were honoured to be joined by two leading experts in the field: Dr Hege Gundersen and Dr Kasper Hancke.
During the webinar, they offered an in-depth look at how drones are being used to map blue forests and coastal habitats-areas that play a crucial role in marine biodiversity, carbon storage, and ecosystem health. The speakers demonstrated how drone-based tools offer a high-resolution, cost-effective, and scalable approach to environmental monitoring. Participants gained insights into:
- Innovative drone methodologies for habitat mapping
- The role of drone imagery in assessing ecosystem health
- Practical applications in current research projects
- Challenges and opportunities in scaling drone-based monitoring across Europe
This webinar marked an important step in showcasing how emerging technologies are shaping the future of marine science. Stay tuned for more events from the MOD Alliance as we continue to explore cutting-edge approaches to protecting our oceans!