Bringing AI-Powered Invasive Species Detection to Ontario's Environmental Decision-Makers: A Workshop with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks

On February 11, 2026, Kate Withers Hess, PhD — Agronomic Advisor and Commercialization Lead at Sairone — led a collaborative workshop in Guelph Ontario with the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), specifically engaging the GIS, Pesticides, and Air Division. Joining Kate was Matt Bolding from Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), who shared firsthand experience deploying Sairone's AI-powered drone analysis platform to detect and monitor two of Ontario's most problematic aquatic invasive species: European water chestnut (Trapa natans) and water soldier (Stratiotes aloides).

During the workshop, Kate presented the technical capabilities of the Sairone platform and demonstrated how AI-driven analysis transforms raw drone imagery into actionable, species-specific geospatial datasets. The platform's ability to turn drone footage into georeferenced maps of European water chestnut and water soldier distribution offers a powerful new tool for the MECP and partner organizations working to manage these invasive threats across the province. With these maps field crews can be directed to an individual pant, or cluster to take action. 

Why This Workshop Matters

Aquatic invasive species represent one of the most persistent and ecologically damaging threats to Ontario's freshwater ecosystems. European water chestnut and water soldier are both aggressive colonizers that form dense, monoculture mats on the surface of lakes, rivers, and wetlands. These infestations displace native vegetation, degrade water quality, reduce dissolved oxygen levels, impair recreational waterway access, and disrupt the aquatic food webs that fish, waterfowl, and other wildlife depend on. Traditional detection and monitoring methods — such as manual shoreline surveys, boat-based visual assessments, and periodic sampling — are time-consuming, expensive, and often fail to capture the full spatial extent of an infestation, particularly in remote or difficult-to-access areas.

Ducks Unlimited Canada's Field Experience

Matt Bolding from Ducks Unlimited Canada provided a compelling, real-world perspective on how the technology performs in operational field conditions. DUC, one of North America's foremost wetland conservation organizations, has been using a customized version of Sairone's platform to survey and monitor aquatic invasive species across key conservation sites in Ontario. Matt shared detailed case study results demonstrating how drone-acquired imagery, processed through saiwa.ai's custom-trained detection models, enabled DUC field teams to rapidly identify and map European water chestnut and water soldier (sub-merged and above water) populations with comparable accuracy, enhanced coverage, compared to scouring the water bodies by boat, or reviewing drone imagery manually. 

The partnership between DUC and Sairone highlights how conservation organizations can leverage AI technology to dramatically improve the scale and quality of their monitoring programs while optimizing limited field resources and budgets. Matt emphasized that the ability to detect invasive populations early — before they reach a critical mass — is one of the most valuable aspects of the technology, as early detection is universally recognized as the cornerstone of effective invasive species management.

The Path Forward

As sensitive ecosystems continue to face escalating pressures from aquatic invasive species driven by climate change, increased human activity, and expanding vectors of introduction, the need for scalable, accurate, and cost-effective monitoring technologies has never been greater.
Sairone and its partners are committed to supporting environmental agencies, conservation organizations, and land managers across Ontario and beyond with the precision tools they need to protect freshwater ecosystems, inform evidence-based policy, and take proactive action against invasive species before they cause irreversible ecological harm. We have solutions for European water chestnut, water soldier, purple loosestrife and phragmites. 

To learn more about Sairone's AI-powered invasive species detection and environmental monitoring capabilities, visit Sairone or contact our team to discuss how drone-based precision analysis can support your organization's conservation and compliance objectives.