Rare Bat Project wins Funding
Conservationists have been awarded funding to develop plans to protect a rare species of bat in Devon.
The funding secured by Devon Wildlife Trust from the Heritage Lottery Fund for will go towards a project protecting the Greater Horseshoe Bat.
The project plan to be developed over the next 12 months by the Greater Horseshoe Bat Partnership could then see a further £750,000 in long-term funding.
“In the last century they’ve seen their numbers decline by 90% and Devon and the wider South West, is really the last remaining stronghold for that species.” said Steve Hussey of the Devon Wildlife Trust.
He continued: “In Devon we have 11 big remaining maternity roosts, places where they bring up their youngsters and we’re keen to make sure that they not just survive but that they thrive.
“The way to do that is to build a much more bat friendly landscape, it’s not just about the roosts but also the places they feed and forage in.
“That means, principally, working with the local communities to let them know that in the first place they’ve got bats around and in the second place, to value those bats and to invest time, effort and their own pride in supporting that species.”
Part of this work will be to teach people more about the Greater Horseshoe Bat, which with wingspans of up to 40cm are one of the largest of the UK’s 16 species of bat.
“The other thing is to work with farmers as well because of course their landowners and to just make some simple changes to the way that they might manage land to help bats.” Continued Steve Hussey.
“It might mean managing hedgerows in a slightly different way, it might mean managing stock in a differn’t way... it’s fairly simple and its things that some farmers are already doing but we want to encourage more people to do that.”
The support from the local farming community and wider area has proven invaluable in similar projects to protect dwindling species in the past, most recently with the Cirl Bunting recovery programme which has seen numbers of the South Devon bird flourish after nearly dying out.
The project is not just focused on preservation however will also see moves to create more habitats for the Greater Horseshoe.
Steve Hussey said: “It isn’t just about hearts and minds it’s actually going to lead to some changes on the ground as well... [But] you can’t make those changes without support from local people”.
