Greater horseshoe bat Project 1998-2003 (ENRR532)

The English Nature Greater horseshoe bat project has been implementing key recommendations of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan since 1998. The Project aimed to deliver against two key actions: to prepare and distribute advice on the management of foraging areas; and to encourage favourable management and seek to implement this through management agreements. Over the past five years the Project has visited and provided advice to 163 landowners managing approximately 13211 hectares of land in bat foraging areas around key maternity and hibernation roost sites in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. The Project has also supported greater horseshoe bat conservation action in other counties in southwest England, through technical advice, training seminars and farm walks. The success of the Project continues to be widely publicised and promoted to appropriate audiences, including policy makers, conservation professionals, farming communities and local people near to the roosts.