Since several years, drones have been increasingly used in environmental protection, for example to monitor ecosystems. However, their use for detecting, gripping, and moving objects—such as in the cleanup of environmental pollution or the handling of hazardous materials—remains very limited. For this, there is considerable potential, but also technical and scientific challenges due to the complex interaction between the drone and the physical environment. Basic research has yielded initial methods for detecting and gripping objects with drones. For practical application in real-world environments, however, these methods still need to be comprehensively refined, particularly in terms of robustness and adaptability. This is where the DroneGripper project comes in. The goal of the project is to design, build, and evaluate a drone equipped with a gripper that can automatically detect, grip, and move complex objects in environmental protection applications. Concepts from adaptive control and soft robotics are utilized to achieve high robustness and adaptability. These form the innovative core of the project. Particular emphasis is placed on modular hardware and software to cover various application areas in environmental protection. A specific use case is the automated collection of waste in hard-to-reach areas. The drone flies over a defined area, detects waste, and collects it after receiving approval from a human supervisor. Experts from the fields of waste management, water protection, road maintenance, and disaster response are involved in the requirements analysis and practical evaluation of the drone to ensure that real-world experiences and needs are specifically taken into account.