Bats, Buildings and Development
There is a very important link between bat conservation and built structures.
All our British bat species will make use of buildings on occasion, but for some species, buildings are essential as roost sites. This situation has arisen over a long period of time as tree cover and availability of caves, which would have provided natural roost sites, have become scarce and long ago bat species adapted to share our built structures with us, in much the same way that swifts, swallows and house martins have.
These roosts in existing building stock are vitally important. When we look to the future and the requirement for low and zero-carbon homes, it is important that provision for bats (and other biodiversity) is planned for, otherwise future building will be devoid of roosting potential. It is hoped that as bat conservation works more closely with the construction industry, that these pages will be used by the construction industry too.
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