STOKE-ON-TRENT, UK – 30th September 2025 – A new era of large-scale landscape restoration is launching in the UK, thanks to a landmark collaboration between pioneering technology company AutoSpray Systems and leading conservation partners: the National Trust, the Woodland Trust, and North Pennines National Landscape. The ‘Beyond Restoration’ project will deploy autonomous drone technology in a UK-first to demonstrate the new technology can carry out vital conservation work in important sites, and has the potential to operate at an unprecedented scale, while enhancing safety and efficiency.
The Problem: The Slow and Costly Nature of Manual Restoration
Large parts of the UK’s vital peatland and woodland ecosystems are degraded and their restoration is slow and labour-intensive. Peatlands, which have the potential to store millions of tonnes of carbon, are often so damaged that they are now emitting, rather than storing carbon. The sheer size and remoteness of these areas make restoration work a painstaking process for manual teams. Similarly, many potential woodland creation sites are either too steep, unsafe, or remote for traditional methods of planting or spreading seeds, something that limits progress against ambitious reforestation targets. The challenges are particularly acute in areas like the North Pennines, where high altitude and harsh weather make restoration efforts expensive and difficult.
The Solution: A New Blueprint for Conservation
In a significant step forward, the ‘Beyond Restoration’ project, launching on 1st October and supported through the Department for Transport and Innovate UK funded Future Flight programme, is tackling the challenges of scaling up the work and accessing distant locations with advanced drone technology.
Announcing the fund yesterday (29th October), Kier Mather MP, Aviation Minister said: “We’re backing the next generation of British aviation businesses whose transformative technologies will reshape how we live and work in the years to come.”
This new approach represents a breakthrough for landscape restoration, as it enables the tackling of a range of environmental challenges at a greater scale and with less impact on the sensitive environments being restored. This solution complements the invaluable manual restoration work being carried out by conservation teams, while offering a new way to reach inaccessible sites. The trial involves specially trained pilots with special permission to operate the drones on BVLOS work, as the project will be carefully monitored to ensure there are no negative impacts on wildlife, especially birds nesting on the peat moors.
For the National Trust, the trial will see drones release a gel containing sphagnum moss onto bare peat, to allow for faster distribution than the process of planting sphagnum moss plugs, which is normally done by hand, in remote and hard-to-reach areas. This will support their work to restore extensive peat moors in locations such as the Peak District, which are in dire need of restoration.
For the Woodland Trust, after a careful design process, the project aims to establish 5 BVLOS-approved sites to seed new native trees across over 40 hectares. Drone applications like this, described by AutoSpray Systems as using “mechanical birds,” is used to introduce a diversity of seeds into hard-to-reach landscapes, overcoming some limitations of natural seed dispersal. The use of drones helps overcome the challenges of seeding in remote or steep areas that are unsafe for human planters.
In North Pennines National Landscape, the project will test the technology in a challenging environment at one of its highest points, to see how the drones can be used to precisely direct lime, seed, and fertiliser to bare peat slopes. This could replace or supplement the current process of applying these materials by hand.
The Impact: Cost Savings and National Targets
The project aims to support the restoration of critical peatland ecosystems and begin a program to seed new native trees in the right place. This collaboration seeks to restore iconic landscapes, boost biodiversity, sequester carbon, and create a blueprint for the future of environmental conservation in the UK. The trial is a powerful example of how innovation can deliver tangible, real-world solutions to pressing environmental challenges.
The project directly contributes to the government’s target of creating 30,000 hectares of new woodland per year and is a key step towards meeting the ambitious targets for peatland restoration by 2050. By using drones, the project will showcase the efficiency and effectiveness of innovative technologies in restoration while also reducing costs. As the Woodland Trust noted, this method is “potentially much faster and cheaper at dispersing seeds than human tree planters”.
Quotes
“AutoSpray has been working at the cutting edge of drone innovation for the last 5 years. And the ‘Beyond Restoration’ project is an opportunity to apply that innovation to valuable conservation schemes: restoring our precious landscapes with efficiency and at scale.”
Andy Sproson, COO of AutoSpray Systems
“We’re backing the next generation of British aviation businesses whose transformative technologies will reshape how we live and work in the years to come.”
Kier Mather MP, Aviation Minister
“We are excited to be working with Beyond Restoration on this key project that brings together leading conservation partners and experienced drone operators to tackle the challenges of restoring sensitive natural environments in an effective, safe and scalable manner. This will both accelerate the route to commercial operations and deliver real-world impact”
Vicki Murdie, Future Flight Innovation Lead at Innovate UK
“The state of nature and our climate needs us to work at scale and pace. Technology, such as these drones, could be part of the solution. Being part of the trial will help us explore the effectiveness and potential uses of this type of technology in our conservation work to restore healthy peatland which will help to counter climate change and support diverse wildlife habitats.”
Craig Best, National Trust’s Peak District General Manager.
“Drones have the potential to unlock exciting new opportunities for woodland creation and restoration at locations and scales previously not possible with more conventional methods.”
Rob Daulby, Assistant Outreach Adviser for Northern England at the Woodland Trust.
“There is a need for more extensive restoration in order to meet the Government’s targets for peatland restoration by 2050, and this could be an exciting innovation to support this work.”
Lisa Gill, Field Officer at the North Pennines National Landscape.
About the Partners
AutoSpray Systems is leading the agri-drone revolution in the UK, with the purpose of revolutionising UK agriculture through the safe, smart, and sustainable use of autonomous drone technology.
The National Trust is an independent conservation charity founded in 1895 which, across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, cares for more than 250,000 hectares of countryside, 890 miles of coastline, 1 million collection items and 500 historic properties, gardens and nature reserves. The National Trust is for everyone and its 5.4 million members, funders and donors, and tens of thousands of volunteers support its work to care for nature, beauty, history for everyone, for ever.
The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK with more than 500,000 supporters. With a vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, the Trust owns and cares for more than 1,000 woodland sites across the UK.
The North Pennines National Landscape and UNESCO Global Geopark is a UK protected landscape.
Media Contacts
AutoSpray Systems (lead): Sam Edwards, pr@autospraysystems.com, 07907597840
National Trust: Allan King, allan.king@nationaltrust.org.uk
Woodland Trust: Paul Mosley, paulmosley@woodlandtrust.org.uk
North Pennines National Landscape: Sarah Hudspeth, communications@northpennines.org.uk