The equipment was donated to UNDP Moldova with the support of the Government of Sweden. According to the Ministry of Environment, the new monitoring equipment includes 15 thermal imaging drones, three sonars used to detect illegal fishing nets, aquatic fauna monitoring and bottom mapping. As well as 18 surveillance cameras, 15 body-worn cameras to document field activities, 18 binoculars, 25 flashlights, and special clothing and footwear.
The drones and sonars will be used in the areas of the Dniester and Prut rivers, where poaching, illegal installation of fishing nets and unauthorized pumping of water are not uncommon, which directly harms natural resources.
The equipment will be provided to the staff of the Department for the Control of Hunting and Fishing Resources and 13 territorial IPM inspectorates in the Dniester River basin. More than 40 environmental inspectors from the territorial units were trained to use the equipment at maximum capacity.
Drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras will be used to detect illegal logging and poaching in the forests. They are also capable of working at night, covering an area of up to 20 kilometers and reaching areas difficult to reach for field patrols. The real-time images allow inspectors to act quickly and accurately, precisely where environmental threats arise.
The project is also modernizing other structures in the field of environmental protection, such as the Reference Laboratory of the Environmental Protection Agency, which will more effectively support monitoring of water resources, and the State Hydrometeorological Service through the acquisition of monitoring stations.
