Sharing Expertise on Woodland Bats

During a long mid-summer day, with the woodland canopy glowing green in the sunshine, it was a perfect day for a walk in the woods at East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve, but this time, it was a walk with a difference. Conservation experts from around the SW had been brought together by the Woodland Trust to share the knowledge built up through recent research about a colony of barbastelles, a rare woodland bat species.Over recent years, this colony has been studied by a team from the University of Bristol and a lot has been learned from this work about the way the bats make use of the woodland and surrounding landscape. As the researchers have become better informed about the barbastelles and have begun to draw some conclusions about their roosting and foraging behaviour, the time had come to share this new-found insight. The aim of the day was to transfer the latest scientific understanding to those actively involved in woodland management and the conservation of bat species.

The session went on into the afternoon and, though only a short distance had been covered through the woods, the discussion had gone a long way to sharing information about the barbastelle in oak woodland. In the longer term, discussions like this will help researchers, woodland managers and conservationists transfer their knowledge to landscape advisers and land owners on how to better protect some of the rare species most under threat.This networking event at East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve was organised by the Woodland Trust and Natural England; partners in the Moor than meets the eye scheme, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.by Matt Parkins. With photos by Paul Moody and video footage by Susan Young