5th May 2016

The National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP) is a world-leading citizen science programme. It relies on a dedicated network of volunteer surveyors, who contributed a total of 19,600 hours of their time in 2015.

The 2015 Annual Report provides the latest results from the programme, which produces population trends for 11 of Great Britain's 17 resident bat species. All bat species we monitor are considered to have been stable or to have increased since 1999.

Four species are considered to have increased since the baseline year of monitoring, while another five species are considered to have stable trends. The remaining two species show some evidence of increases, however the evidence is currently inconclusive and further years of data are required to confirm these trends.

The latest results of the National Bat Monitoring Programme show continued signs of recovery for some species of bat in Great Britain which is encouraging; however it is important to remember that these trends reflect relatively recent changes in bat populations. The results suggest that current legislation and conservation action to protect and conserve bats are having a positive impact, and it is vitally important that this continues.

The NBMP is run by the Bat Conservation Trust, in partnership with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and supported and steered by Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, and Scottish Natural Heritage. The NBMP is indebted to all volunteers who contribute data to the programme.

Click here to find out more about the National Bat Monitoring Programme or sign up to take part in our surveys this summer.

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