News

LVM Expands the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Also in Real Estate Management

Today, sustainable forest management is unimaginable without the use of the latest technologies – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are increasingly used in the operations of JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM). Currently, LVM uses drones on a daily basis for monitoring large nests, collecting forest inventory data, planning forestry work and in other places. Drones also play a vital role in case of fire and storm damage. This year, drones are increasingly being used in the work of the LVM Real Estate Administration.

“Unmanned aerial vehicles help our workers to carry out both their daily tasks and control plan surveys. Drones allow you to visually reach objects, the inspection of which earlier had to overcome various physical obstacles, as well as perform, for example, the compliance control of forest highways registered in the Real Estate State Cadastre Information System, obtaining the exact configuration of the roads,” says Valdis Kalns, Head of LVM Real Estate Administration.

Drones also allow surveying of leased areas, allowing to check whether the lessee is managing the land in accordance with the contract, as well as, when preparing for lease auctions, to get a sufficiently wide view of the situation of the specific object from a bird's eye view.

Unmanned aerial vehicles also help in the work of surveying dangerous structures, as the worker can be at a safe distance from the dangerous object. Moreover, using drones, it is possible to discover other objects that have not been possible to record before.

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the company is only expanding – almost 300 employees of the company have already obtained a remote pilot license, 80 unmanned aerial vehicles are actively used, and another 52 unmanned aerial vehicles will be purchased this year. Kārlis Linde, LVM Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operations Manager: “Every year, the number of registered flights is increasing, confirming that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for work needs is becoming a daily routine for more and more employees and it has become an indispensable assistant in the performance of work.”