Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance logo

Monitoring Beaver Populations with Project Kiwi

Partner: Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance

Date: January 2025

Location: Pacific Northwest, USA

Project Overview

The Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance (SVPA)'s BeaverWise program focuses on innovative coexistence strategies that preserve the ecological benefits of beavers while balancing agricultural needs and residential concerns in the watershed.

Project Kiwi partnered with SVPA to implement a drone based non-invasive monitoring solution:

  • High-resolution drone surveys for detailed environmental mapping
  • Collaborative activity labeling on the Project Kiwi software platform
  • Baseline establishment for future longitudinal ecosystem studies
Herbivory
Recent Beaver Activity: Herbivory

The Challenge

Monitoring primarily nocturnal Beaver populations presented unique challenges:

  • Beavers are primarily active during dawn and dusk, making visual observation difficult
  • Remote wetland locations are hard to access regularly
  • Traditional monitoring methods can disturb the animals and their habitat
  • Dense vegetation makes traditional photogrammetry-based mapping difficult

Our Solution

Inspection and Annotation of Beaver activity.

Project Kiwi's solution delivered comprehensive monitoring capabilities:

  • Mapping of large habitat areas with unprecedented detail
  • Collaborative online platform enabling multiple stakeholders to participate
  • The Project Kiwi Inspection Tool recovers maximum image fidelity, from multiple angles, which is particularly important in natural environments

Results

600+

Acres Mapped

2.5cm

Average Ground Sampling Distance (GSD)

30+

Beaver Dams Flagged

The Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance can use the rich data collected to monitor habitat change and impacts over time in the areas studied.

A word from a real expert

"Drones have made it possible for us to map vast areas of riparian habitat with minimal disruption to the ecosystem. Through Project Kiwi, we were able to collaboratively identify and map signs of beaver activity as a team. I found a lot of value in the inspection tool — it significantly improved my confidence in the labeled activity and has the potential to be a game changer for biodiversity monitoring with drones."

— Justine Casebolt, Beaver Conservation Manager, SVPA

Conclusion

This case study demonstrates how Project Kiwi enabled non-invasive monitoring of beaver populations through drone-based surveys and collaborative annotation tools. By providing high-resolution mapping of remote wetland areas and a platform for identifying beaver activity, Project Kiwi helped SVPA's BeaverWise program overcome traditional monitoring challenges while building a foundation for long-term ecosystem studies.

Michael Vaux

Michael Vaux

Chief Code Monkey at Project Kiwi