Drone surveys with Indigenous Guardians, built to last.
Mapping eelgrass habitat in Semiahmoo Bay using high-resolution drone surveys — paired with hands-on Indigenous capacity building so the work continues with the community.
- Partner
- WWF-Canada & SSIGA
- Year
- 2022
- Service
- Drone Mapping
- Output
- Eelgrass Habitat Maps
Project details.
Approach
Cutting-edge mapping paired with local stewardship — so the surveys continue with the community.
Overstory partnered with WWF-Canada and the Salish Sea Indigenous Guardians Association to map eelgrass habitat in Semiahmoo Bay, BC using high-resolution drone surveys. Covering approximately 8 kilometers of coastline, the project produced up-to-date, highly accurate maps of eelgrass beds — an important marine habitat that had not been comprehensively surveyed since the mid-2000s.
In addition to delivering detailed spatial data to support conservation and monitoring, the project focused on Indigenous capacity building. A hands-on drone mapping workshop provided Indigenous Guardians and community members with training in drone technology, mapping workflows, and safe flight operations.
This Indigenous-led project combined drone-based mapping with local stewardship, supporting long-term protection of coastal ecosystems while strengthening community-driven conservation.
What was made
- Surveys
- High-resolution drone surveys along the shoreline
- Habitat Maps
- Detailed eelgrass-bed maps for the bay
- Workshop
- Hands-on training with Indigenous Guardians
- Methodology
- Repeatable approach the community can re-run
- Baseline
- Reference dataset for long-term monitoring
By the numbers
8
km
of Semiahmoo Bay coastline surveyed
1
workshop
delivered with Indigenous Guardians and community
1
baseline
comprehensive dataset for long-term monitoring
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