There is a loud buzzing above the meadow. It is bees who are swinging at flowers – but one sound is different from the others. Because it's not an insect, but dronewhich spreads the seeds of honey flowers where people cannot enter because of the threat of mines.
Since Russia's attack on Ukraine, and especially after the full -scale invasion in 2022, the huge area of ​​the country is mined. Ukraine It became One of the most mined countries in the world. To reduce the effects on agriculture and local communities a bit, as well as collecting funds for mining, the “Minefield Honey” project is being carried out there, i.e. honey from minefield.
Arable fields sown mines
Just after less than two years after the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian authorities estimated that about 30 percent. the territory of the country may be mined or where they are unexploded bubbles. Not only are a direct threat to the health and life of civilians, but also make huge areas not available to agriculture. These are Places in the south of the country, where the cultivation of the role was one of the basics of the economy and a source of income for residents before the war.
Removing min – where possible – is labor -intensive and expensive. According to the analysis Bank The world from early 2023, removing mines and other explosives in Ukraine will cost at least 38 billion dollars And it will take many years.
The very presence of mines also means losses. Excluding 8 million hectares of arable land from the economy (for comparison, the total area of ​​agricultural land in Poland is about 15 million ha), which translates into losses reaching over $ 11.2 billion a year.
One of the ideas on this, like to some extent to alleviate this situation, is the “Minefield Honey” project.
Send bees where people will not enter
The idea is based on the use of drone technology so that areas inaccessible to people can be used. It uses drones to spread honey seeds in mined areas where sunflowers were previously grown. People cannot safely grow this land or even walk on it, but for bees it is not a problem.
The production of honey and ensuring work is just one of the elements of the project. It also aims to collect funds for demining. Ukraine also uses honey from minefield in diplomacy and to build awareness of the threat it is facing. The country's delegations take him to foreign visits and international conferences, from the Economic Forum in Davos to climate peaks.
Via the Foundation United24 donations can be conveyed or buy honey Established thanks to the work of bees and drones in the minefields. The collected funds help to equip specialists for relaxing with the necessary equipment, enabling farmers to safely return to work in their fields.
DROs for reducing
Unmanned aerial vehicles can also support removal of min. In 2023 We wrote About the Pustup Foundation founded by Vlada Kozak, founded in Poland, which developed drones for detecting min.
They developed a drone with a connected magnetometr, which can scan a given area – e.g. arable field – and indicate items that can be faces or unexploded bubbles.
The work of sappers is still necessary – they must confirm the presence of mines on site and remove them safely. But maps Made with the help of drones, they can significantly accelerate and improve this process.