How Smart Agriculture Technologies Help Restore Biodiversity
The Biodiversity Crisis Agriculture Can Solve
Healthy ecosystems are the backbone of agricultural productivity. Pollination, soil fertility, water retention, and climate resilience all depend on biodiversity.
Yet, biodiversity has declined by 70% since 1970. This is largely due to land-use change, especially from farming. With agriculture covering over 40% of Earth’s surface, the sector has a massive opportunity and responsibility to restore nature. Smart agriculture technologies are a key enabler of this shift.
Agri-tech tools now allow us to measure biodiversity at scale, reward nature-positive practices, and manage land more wisely. These innovations are turning sustainability goals into actionable strategies across supply chains.
Why Biodiversity Needs Smart Agriculture
Traditionally, biodiversity lacked economic value on-farm. Farmers had little incentive to protect hedgerows or manage wetlands if yields weren’t directly affected. Today, that’s changing. Policies like the EU’s CSRD, funding schemes like Ireland’s ACRES, and growing consumer demand for nature-friendly food are putting biodiversity front and center.
Smart technologies support this shift by:
Reducing chemical use through precision application, minimizing excess fertilizers and pesticides that harm beneficial insects and soil life.
Mapping habitats via satellite and AI, offering an accurate picture of natural features like hedgerows, wetlands, and semi-natural grasslands.
Tracking species with audio sensors and environmental DNA (eDNA), detecting birds, pollinators, and microbial diversity with minimal disruption.
Informing land use decisions based on real-time data, helping identify which zones to restore, rewild, or enhance for biodiversity gains.
Why Biodiversity Needs Smart Agriculture
Measuring biodiversity is about understanding the health of the land your business depends on. Biodiversity exists at three levels: genetic, species, and habitat. Measuring all three gives us a complete picture. But doing it across an entire supply chain has traditionally been slow, expensive, and inconsistent. Fortunately, new tools and technologies are making biodiversity measurement more scalable, cost-effective, and auditable.
1. Genetic Level: What’s in the Soil and Water? 🧬
eDNA Testing: Soil and water samples reveal traces of DNA from plants, insects, and microbes, giving a detailed view of the invisible biodiversity supporting soil health.
IoT Sensors: These devices track variables like moisture, nutrient levels, and organic matter in the soil, helping to understand the conditions that support or limit genetic diversity.
2. Species Level: Listening to Nature 🐦
Acoustic Monitoring: Smart audio sensors identify bird and pollinator species by their calls, offering a non-invasive way to assess the presence and variety of wildlife.
AI Species Recognition: Tools process acoustic and camera trap data to determine species richness, giving insights into ecosystem health over time.
3. Habitat Level: Mapping the Land 🌿
Remote Sensing: Satellites capture high-resolution images to classify land cover types like grasslands, hedgerows, woodlands, or wetlands across large areas.
AI & Machine Learning: Algorithms process this data to detect habitat changes, track coverage, and support land-use planning.
Decision Support Software: Recommends how to optimize field margins, buffer strips, and land conversion to enhance habitat value.
What Level of Biodiversity Should You Be Measuring?
To work across supply chains, biodiversity metrics must be:
- Scalable: applicable across thousands of hectares and multiple suppliers
- Cost-effective: affordable to monitor regularly
- Auditable: backed by transparent data
- Repeatable: consistent over time
Habitat area, especially when tracked using satellite and AI, is one of the few indicators that checks all these boxes. It’s simple to understand (% natural habitat), tied to strong ecological science (species-area relationships), and makes biodiversity visible in landscapes where people and production coexist.
🌱 Discover what habitat measuring can do for your supply chain. Book a demo today.
How Farm Zero C Boosted Biodiversity from 7.5% to 10% Without Sacrificing Profit
Inside Farm Zero C
Farm Zero C is a bold research and innovation project aiming to create the world’s first carbon-neutral dairy farm. Based at Shinagh Farm in West Cork, it brings together Carbery Group, BiOrbic Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy , Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and ODOS. The goal? To prove that net-zero emissions and profitable dairy farming can go hand in hand. The farm serves as a live testing ground for cutting-edge practices that balance productivity with climate and biodiversity goals, making it a model for sustainable agriculture across Europe.
What role did ODOS play?
To help Farm Zero C hit its biodiversity targets, we used habitat mapping tools to assess the entire landscape. The focus? Transform underproductive or hard-to-manage areas into nature-positive features, without impacting productivity.
Strategies that we implemented:
- 🌿 Widening hedgerows to improve habitat connectivity
- 🌾 Turning lawns and regularly cut grass areas into semi-natural grasslands
- 💧 Rewilding wet, hard-to-manage areas into functioning wetlands
- 🌳 Converting a conifer plantation into a semi-natural native woodland
The results? A measurable increase in biodiversity from 7.5% to 10%, carbon emissions fell, and productivity remained intact.
🔍 Find the hidden biodiversity opportunities in your supply chain. Talk to us
Sustainability Tips: 3 Tips To Boost Your Biodiversity
Improving biodiversity doesn’t mean taking land out of production; it means using it more wisely. The key is to find the win-win: changes that benefit nature and your bottom line. Here are three high-impact strategies used by leading farms across Europe:
1. Start with nonproductive areas
Unused spaces like lawns, field edges, and corners around infrastructure offer a perfect opportunity for low-effort biodiversity gains. These areas typically serve no productive purpose and can be quickly rewilded into pollinator zones or semi-natural grasslands.
✅ Implementation Tip: Start by identifying areas that are regularly mown or rarely used. Converting them into flowering habitats or native vegetation patches can increase ecological value while reducing maintenance time and cost.
2. Convert your hardest-to-farm zones
Wet patches, steep slopes, and low-yield soils often cost more to manage than they return. By converting these zones into wetlands, scrublands, or woodlands, farms can increase biodiversity, reduce input costs, and improve long-term sustainability.
✅ Implementation Tip: Use satellite imagery or on-farm experience to identify the least productive zones. Focus first on areas where machinery access is difficult or where flooding is frequent, ideal sites for wetland restoration or habitat corridors.
3. Connect existing habitats
Biodiversity thrives when habitats are linked. Creating linear features like hedgerows, grassy strips, or wide field margins between existing natural areas boosts species movement and resilience across the farm landscape.
✅ Implementation Tip: Instead of installing new fences, plant native hedgerows or seed linear grasslands. Even short connections—between a woodland and a ditch, or two separate tree lines—can significantly enhance ecological connectivity.
🌱 Data-driven biodiversity starts with the right tools. Let’s explore how ODOS can help. Contact us today