While Dr Reid and Professor Castka acknowledge the sensitivities accompanying this level of transparency, they believe it can also deliver significant benefits.
鈥淐ompliance standards create a heavy load for farmers,鈥 Professor Castka says. 鈥淩emote sensing automates this, so it isn鈥檛 taking them away from what they want to be doing.鈥
In addition to efficiency gains, Dr Reid highlights how land managers could receive timely data regarding their productivity and environmental impacts. 鈥淚t will also allow land managers who are truly regenerative to stand out, becoming examples that others can learn from.鈥 He says the response from industry has in most cases been positive and adds that the leaders in this space will gain a powerful marketing tool, for use both here and internationally, for sustainable products.听听
Dr Reid is also co-lead of Eco-index, a research programme funded by the New Zealand Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, and hosted at the University of Waikato, that measures biodiversity health and investment in Aotearoa. He says substantial private investment in environmental sensing is happening internationally, and that particular interest has been shown in the environmental insights and wisdom traditions held by M膩ori.
The researchers recognise the privacy concerns accompanying the evolution of this technology, however they hope the increased transparency will encourage more aspirational goals for Aotearoa鈥檚 biodiversity.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to preserve what we have now for the next generation,鈥 Professor Castka says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 about making it better.鈥
Published in the Journal of Cleaner Production,听听was funded by the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge.听
