September 12: Day 7 of the DroneForestTrek Project team visit: The Day When Forest Spoke the Language of Culture

Why Pavlovsk?

Because the forest management is not only about drones and maps. The forest is history that we preserve. In the Pavlovsk Park, where the natural landscape was transformed during centuries, the delegation saw how the green area management could integrate tradition and science, and architecture and nature can exist in harmony, and how this harmony can be preserved using modern tools. On the final day of the visit, the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg organized a wonderful excursion for the Tanzanian guests to one of the palace & park ensembles loved by Petersburgers. Pavlovsk Park is called “the encyclopedia of landscape gardening," where formal-garden areas (such as Old Sylvia) neighbor the “natural” English landscape park.

What Was Discussed Under the Linden Trees

The discussion touched on reasons for keeping cultural heritage under continuous environmental monitoring, and on what an alley in Pavlovsk and a Tanzanian forest area have in common. (spoiler: both require careful treatment and precise data). The #DroneForestTrek project is not only about drones. It is about how science, culture, and nature speak the same language. After the excursion, in order to immerse into the historical park atmosphere, visitors rode along its old alleys in a horse-drawn carriage.

Later that night, Tanzanian colleagues flew back home to prepare next project activities: collect materials for the training on the AI-based software to recognize the vegetation of the tropical country. These materials will be used in the demonstration flights in Tanzania planned within the #DroneForestTrek project, as part of research on the forest area using UAS manufactured by the Geoscan Group of Companies.