Victoria will soon use drones to monitor fires and wildlife.

After a year-long trial that saw the buzzing ‘bots keep count of the state's koala population, Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio says they will be in full effect by this year’s summer fire season.

“Effectively this technology give us a birds’ eye view of the landscape so that we can better plan using that information, so that our firefighters can be significantly enhanced in terms of our ability to survey areas that would previously [be] inaccessible,” she told reporters.

“It's a great assistance to firefighting, whether it be planned burns or unplanned fires.

“But also of course it is a fantastic tool to be able to collect data and survey our native [wildlife] populations.”

The State Government is lining up contracts for the drones with private operators.

“It will add to our fire and emergency aviation fleet which has almost doubled in the past 10 years,” she said.

“The demand for aerial intelligence gathering has grown significantly and we know that through these trials the benefits for better information to equip our firefighters to better plan for planned burns is going to be enhanced.”

Department of Environment Land, Water and Planning spokesperson Brendan Zwanikken said the drones could save lives and money.

“We find that they [drones] are quieter for wildlife and in some circumstances they may be more cost effective,” he said.

“However, at this stage we haven't determined exactly what maned aircraft and unmanned aircraft would be suited for.

“I think remotely piloted aircraft are the way of the future in some aspects but not all aspects.”