Your help with any of these special needs will directly improve BCI’s ability to protect bats and bat habitats. To contribute or for more information, contact BCI’s Department of Development at (512) 327-9721 or development@batcon.org.

Saving Bats from Wind Turbines

Scientists estimate that more than 1,000 U.S. wind facilities have caused the deaths of 650,000 to 1.3 million bats, and wind energy is expanding around the world. Bat Conservation International’s Bats & Wind Energy Program has been working since 2004 to minimize those deaths. Now we are conducting a landmark Bats & Wind Energy Workshop in Honolulu, Hawaii, June 18-20. Participants will be trained on the latest in research and monitoring techniques, and learn strategies for protecting bats from wind turbines. We hope to provide full scholarships so two members of RELCOM, the Latin American Network for Bat Conservation, can attend. We must develop partnerships and build capacity as wind energy expands in developing countries. Two scholarships total $6,500 for registration ($975 per person), airfare ($1,300 per person) and food and lodging ($975 per person).

Teaching Conservation in DR Congo

Bat research and conservation is barely beginning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but biologist Prince Kaleme of the federal Center for Research in Natural Sciences has an ambitious plan for a pilot project with great promise for the future. He plans to train 10 natural-science teachers who will conduct the first-ever bat-diversity surveys in the Itombwe Forest Reserve, an area rich in bats but subject to intense pressure from bushmeat hunters. The teachers will take their new knowledge back to classrooms, and their results will be used for posters and other ­materials as part of an intense educational effort (that also involves parents) at five pilot schools. Kaleme’s goal is a blueprint for bat conservation throughout the ­country. He requests a BCI Global Grassroots Conservation Fund grant of $4,000.

Bat Trunks for Volunteer Educators

BCI’s Bat Trunks, with a full suite of education materials, videos, activities and hands-on teaching aids, have been used for dozens of bat-conservation presentations since they were created in 2011 – thanks to ­generous Wish List donors. We have shipped the on-loan trunks (at BCI’s expense) to 32 organizations in 19 states for use at elementary schools, philanthropic groups, libraries, parks, day-care centers, nature centers and homeschool classes. These trunks reach and change hearts, minds and attitudes about bats. $1,000 would cover the costs for two-way shipping of the trunks to 20 to 25 volunteer educators.