Australia is in the grips of a deforestation crisis. 

In Queensland alone, an area the size of the MCG is cleared every three minutes. Not so long ago, we had stronger state laws against devastating mass deforestation. But those laws recently came undone.

Deforestation typically takes place in remote locations and in secret. If Australians could see the extent of it, they wouldn’t stand for it.

Mass deforestation isn’t limited to the developing world.

It doesn’t only happen in the Amazon. In fact, Australia has one of the most severe deforestation fronts on the planet.

• Queensland clears nearly 300,000Ha of native bush every year.
• Recent law changes in NSW have put a further 8,000,000Ha at risk.
• Land clearing is a leading driver of biodiversity loss in Australia.
• Cleared trees are wasted, left to rot or burned - a considerable source of carbon emissions.
• Deforestation weakens our landscape’s resilience to climate change.

Our solution: Sky Scout - Drones Against Deforestation.

When we show Australians footage of native bush and precious wildlife habitat being torn down by bulldozers and chains, they see the problem with our laws.

By launching a fleet of drones in the worst states for land clearing, The Wilderness Society can afford to capture more high-quality footage than ever before. We’ll use it to fix the laws and end the crisis.

Our drone footage will put deforestation on the national radar.

1. The first step is to help journalists in Australia and around the world to tell our story. In the past, our aerial land clearing footage has been requested by outlets from the ABC to Al Jazeera, so we know this tactic works.
2. Video evidence will help decision-makers make better decisions. We can finally show them the whole picture, free from political spin.
3. We want to give you access to the footage, too. That way, you can play an even bigger role in holding your local representatives to account.

We've got all three drones! Now we need eyeballs.

• In just one week, our Sky Scout fundraiser soared from $0 to beyond our $27,576 target.

• That means we can now afford drones in QLD, NSW and WA - the three worst states for land clearing.

• Every dollar you donate from here will be used to ensure more people see our drone footage.

• The more people we can show, the more momentum we’ll build to fix the laws and end the crisis.
  
  Thanks for all your support so far. There’s still time to donate to Sky Scout and help show Australians the deforestation front on their doorstep.
  
  

It’s not just about buying high-quality camera drones. Keeping them active in the field will be the most expensive part.

Because clearing typically takes place in remote locations, we need to account for travel costs.

If we want to publish our footage, we need to ensure our drone program complies with civil aviation laws. Our insurance also requires us to put all our drone pilots through a recognised training program.

We’ll need to regularly edit footage into compelling packages for local communities, journalists and decision-makers to use. These costs add up.

But we’re confident we can meet all these challenges if we hit our targets above.