In Scotland
2013 Year of Natural Scotland
2013 is the Year of Natural Scotland. To celebrate why not do something really easy (for starters) by looking out for bats and then add your sightings to our Big Bat Map.
Find out about bat events near you.
If you enjoy looking for bats or have bats in your house you might like to take part in a bat survey to help monitor Scotland's bat populations.
There are 17 types of bat which breed in the UK and nine (possibly ten) of these occur in Scotland. The number of species increases the further south and west you go. Only one species breeds in the windswept Orkney Islands while nine species enjoy the gentler climate of Dumfries and Galloway.
The Scottish Bat Project started in April 2003. The project is grant aided by Scottish Natural Heritage and managed by the Bat Conservation Trust. Match funding has come from a variety of sources including generous donations from Scottish Bat Groups.
The aims of the project are to:
- Promote greater awareness of bats in Scotland
- Enable more people in Scotland to appreciate and enjoy bats and get involved in bat conservation
- Develop the network and activities of Scottish Bat Groups, capacity build and share ideas between groups
- Co-ordinate, recruit and train volunteers to take part in bat conservation projects in Scotland
- Identify and, as appropriate, co-ordinate priority projects to focus local bat conservation work in Scotland
The project officer is Anne Youngman.
Bat Conservation Trust
Unit 10
RFL House
Anderson Street
Dunblane
FK15 9AJ
Tel: 01786 822107
Email: ayoungman@bats.org.uk
