BRAZIL – Panel manufacturer Duratex, with about 237 thousand hectares of cultivated forests and conservation areas in the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, recently implemented the use of drones to monitor its eucalyptus plantations.

This technology allows flights with altitudes of up to 200 meters and with speeds exceeding 50 km/h, capturing high-resolution images of the company’s units.

“With the drones, it is possible to quickly and effectively evaluate the quality of our forests,” said Mario Piazon Neto, forestry engineer of the company’s quality area. The technology is being applied in all Duratex forests located in the Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais sites and soon will also be implemented in the Taquari unit of Rio Grande do Sul.

The raw materials used by the Duratex Wood Division have the FSC Forest Management certification of and its factories also have the FSC Chain of Custody certification, ensuring that their products are made with wood from forests managed in an environmentally responsible manner.