BVLOS Drones for Environmental Monitoring: South West Local Engagement Case Study

Proposed BVLOS drones operations for environmental monitoring in Somerset were the catalyst for local community and public engagement in the area. This report synthesises data from five community engagement meetings, four key stakeholder interviews and national- and regional-level survey data to provide a multilayered overview of attitudes to BVLOS environmental drones in the Somerset.

Strong support for environmental monitoring drones was identified, with the following applications seen as particularly beneficial:

• Monitoring of public land use e.g. impacts of anti-social usages
• Supporting land management practices e.g. wildfire management
• Real-time flood response data collection and coordination
• Long-term monitoring of flood-prone areas

However open and transparent communication of where, when and why BVLOS drones are being used is integral to ensuring public support. Likewise mechanisms for ongoing local engagement and oversight were flagged as key to ensuring publics had a stake in these systems. Three key recommendations emerge:

• Do not assume that support for BVLOS environmental monitoring drones translates to blanket support for all use cases: Support for environmental monitoring use case is generally high, and publics are willing to accept some negative impacts to realise positive benefits associated with the use, but this comes with caveats.

• Clear, transparent and ongoing communication will be required to minimise public push back and maximise buy-in: publics want to understand what is happening in their local area. They will recognise and appreciate the positive benefits from these technologies if they are kept in the loop before, during and after environmental drone operations and mechanisms are in place to address public issues or concerns.

• Continued engagement with local communities and key stakeholder groups will be required to ensure operations are fit for purpose: local communities and stakeholders have relevant knowledge of local issues and concerns which should be valued in the design and implementation of emerging drone systems.