Wildlife Population Drone Survey and Habitat Mapping Project

We manage a protected nature reserve and need a qualified drone operator to conduct a wildlife population survey combined with habitat vegetation mapping across roughly 900 hectares of mixed grassland, wetland, and forest edge. The project requires planning a series of overlapping aerial transects flown at a consistent altitude — we recommend 60 to 80 meters depending on canopy height — so that large herbivores, wading birds, and other visible fauna can be counted from high-resolution imagery without disturbing natural behavior. We are looking for someone experienced with systematic transect design, double-count correction methods, and image mosaicking so that population estimates are statistically defensible rather than a rough guess.

In parallel with the population counts, we need high-resolution RGB or multispectral imagery processed into a single orthomosaic and a vegetation classification layer, distinguishing key habitat types such as open water, reed beds, scrubland, and tree cover, so we can track habitat change season over season. Deliverables should include raw flight logs, georeferenced imagery tiles, the processed orthomosaic, a habitat classification layer exported in a standard GIS format (shapefile or GeoJSON), and a written summary of estimated population counts broken down by species and survey zone.

The contractor must hold all necessary aviation authority permits for flights over the reserve, including any required wildlife-disturbance waivers, and must submit a flight plan for our review before the first flight. Because breeding season is approaching, we need this survey completed within the proposed timeline, with a short kickoff call to align on transect spacing, flight windows around weather and wind limits, and the data handoff format. Please include your experience with similar ecological survey work and sample deliverables from prior projects in your proposal.