Biodiversity Technology in Africa

Ten years ago while working in Laikipia, Hassan Sachedina met Peter Ragg who was flying for the Laikipia Predator Project. After Laikipia, Peter piloted his Cessna 182 to Gabon and worked for Wildlife Conservation Society for some years before joining well-known WCS scientist, Dr. Mike Fay on the 'MegaFlyOver'. The MegaFlyOver was an ambitious project to fly across Africa photographing the wildest areas from the air every 10 or so seconds. At a presentation in Arusha in the mid 2000's, Mike Fay, in shorts and Teva sandals, explained to an assembled crowd at the Arusha Hotel the technology and thinking behind the FlyOver. It had grown out of Fay's well-known 'Mega-Transect' where his adventurous walk across Central Africa's densest forests was documented by National Geographic. The Mega-Transect ended up in Gabon where Fay's lobbying efforts helped to create 13 National Parks - 10% of Gabon's surface area- in one fell swoop.


All photos credit: Peter Ragg



Building the MegaFlyOver experiences, Peter and his associates formed Conservation Air Patrol to provide cutting edge technology and multi-media data from an aerial platform to support decision making. Peter and I reconnected in 2006 to discuss collaboration on Conservation Air Patrol (CAP). CAP takes wildlife and resource surveys to the next level and now operates a fleet of survey modified C-182's (and soon twin engine aircraft) strategically deployed around Africa. CAP's distinctly red-painted aircraft are equipped with 14 megapixel digital frame cameras that produce ground resolutions between 10 and 80 centimeters. In other words, these platforms produce higher resolution images than high-resolution satellite imagery, delivered in less time and cheaper than sat imagery.