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MAMALS : BATS
LIFE Focus
I
LIFE improving the conservation status of species and habitats
LIFE promotes bat conservation Many of the species of bat found in Europe are endangered. Their continued survival is threatened by human disturbance and changes to their habitats that reduce the availability of food. As a result, LIFE projects have focused on securing hibernation sites and conserving habitats as well as increasing knowledge of species that are commonly not well understood.
A
lmost all bats hibernate during most of the winter. If they are disturbed during this time – by cave explorers for example – then they are often too weak to survive the winter. One of the main conservation actions is therefore to fence off entrances to caves and other sites where bats hibernate. Changes in agricultural practice, such as the use of pesticides and intensive farming have also altered the food supply of many bat species. Management of land that takes into account local wildlife is therefore a main priority of conservation initiatives for bat species. In spite of such activities, the conservation status of many species remains unfavourable.
knowledge and public awareness of bat ecological requirements. The project covered 13 Sites of Community Importance (pSCI) across five regions of southern France, which are home to more than 56% of the breeding Mediterranean horseshoe bats and 45% of the hibernating individuals; about
Species
One of the most effective ways to ensure that bats are not disturbed, particularly during hibernation, is to construct fences around sites and to block off the entrances using horizontal bars that allow the bats to fly between them. This action was successfully taken at several sites in the south of France as part of a LIFE project aimed at conserving three species of bat (LIFE04NAT/FR/000080). Its target species, the Mediterranean horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus euryale), the long-fingered bat (Myotis capaccinii) and the Schreiber’s bat (Miniopterus schreibersii), have all experienced a decline in their population numbers. Urbanisation, caving and modern agricultural practices have disturbed their roosts and adversely affected their natural habitats. Moreover, there was a lack of basic scientific
Conservation status at Biogeographical region level (main regions)
Projects
Barbastella barbastellus
Unfavourable-inadequate (Atlantic, Continental, Macaronesian) unfavourable bad (Mediterranean and Boreal)
LIFE98 NAT/B/005167
Miniopterus schreibersii
Unfavourable bad (all regions)
LIFE00 NAT/IT/007139 LIFE04 NAT/FR/000080
Myotis bechsteini
Unknown
LIFE98 NAT/B/005167 LIFE00 NAT/IT/007139 LIFE04 NAT/ES/000043 LIFE06 NAT/B/000095
Myotis capaccinii
Unfavourable bad (all regions)
LIFE00 NAT/IT/007139 LIFE04 NAT/FR/000080
Myotis emarginatus
Favourable (Atlantic and Pannonnian) Unfavourable inadequate (Continental)
LIFE98 NAT/B/005167 LIFE00 NAT/IT/007139 LIFE04 NAT/ES/000043 LIFE05 NAT/IT/000037 LIFE06 NAT/B/000095
Rhinolophus euryale
Unfavourable bad (all regions, expect Pannonian - inadequate)
LIFE04 NAT/FR/000080 LIFE04 NAT/ES/000043
Rhinolophus mehelyi
Unfavourable bad (Mediterranean)
LIFE00 NAT/E/007337 LIFE04 NAT/ES/000043
LIFE actions Protection of roosts:
30% of the breeding long-fingered bats and 38% of the hibernating individuals; and about 15% of the Schreiber’s bat breeders and 2% of the hibernating individuals in France. A total of 19 roosts were permanently protected in some form during the four-year project: 12 were either permanently blocked or blocked at certain key times of the
Rhinolophus ferromequinum
LIFE04 NAT/ES/000043 LIFE05 NAT/IT/000037