Bat Conservation Ireland is a company limited by guarantee and with charitable tax exemption status. We are governed by a Revenue-approved Memorandum and Articles of Association. We have signed up to the Governance Code for Charities.
Bat Conservation Ireland was founded in 2004 and is composed of a diverse mix of conservationists, researchers and others with who are committed to wildlife conservation in Ireland. We particularly seek to address the potential conflicts that sometimes arise between humans and bats in dwelling houses.
We monitor bat populations in Ireland, funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The monitoring schemes we manage are
All-Ireland Daubenton’s Waterways Survey
Car-based Bat Monitoring Scheme
BATLAS 2020
Brown Long-eared Bat Roost Monitoring Scheme
Lesser Horseshoe Bat Monitoring Scheme
All of these projects involve local involvement of volunteers and conservation agency staff.
We act as an umbrella group for the local bat groups.
We write and disseminate educational and information materials.
We give talks and lead bat walks.
We organise bi-annual island-wide conferences to provide a platform for discussion among Irish and international bat researchers and a forum for presentation of new bat research results.
We (try to) regularly update the website which provides information about bats, downloadable reports and acts as a portal to sources of bat information.
We actively promote nature conservation in Ireland by being represented on the Environmental Pillar and as a member of the Irish Environmental Network (IEN).
We offer extensive support and training to members of the public to survey their local bat populations.
We provide a central repository for bat records and data sharing with appropriate agencies.