Rainforests are estimated to shelter between 40% and 75% of Earth’s biodiversity, including countless endemic species that are vital to the ecosystem health. The large uncertainty in these estimates underscores the significant gaps in our knowledge of this biome, with numerous species yet to be discovered. Simultaneously, human-driven habitat destruction is causing species to disappear before they can ever be identified. This combination of limited knowledge and accelerating loss has transformed the effort to document rainforest biodiversity into a pressing ‘race against the clock’. Ongoing developments in drone technologies offer a promising solution for conducting large-scale surveys of rainforest biodiversity. To enable swift, sustainable and minimally invasive collection of high-quality biodiversity data in rainforest environments, Curupira was developed, an innovative system designed to enhance our understanding of species diversity and ecosystem health. Curupira features a coordinated pair of autonomous drones, working in tandem to conduct efficient, in-depth biodiversity surveys in tropical rainforests.