What Organisations are Involved with Bats in Northern Ireland?
- The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is the statutory agency with responsibility for protected species. This organisation ensures that the legislation protecting bats is enforced.
- The Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR, part of the National Museums of Northern Ireland) operates a Bat Hotline to provide advice on dealing with grounded bats or bats in houses, telephone 028 9039 5264. You can leave a message outside office hours. Alternatively email [email protected].
- The Northern Ireland Bat Group (NIBG) is a volunteer-led organisation that helps members of the public with bat queries, provides education, rehabilitates injured bats and undertakes surveys. If there is a NIBG representative in your area, he or she may be able to come to your school or club to give a talk about bats. NIBG shares bat records with CEDaR.
- Bat Conservation Ireland trains volunteers in Northern Ireland who assist with several All-Ireland bat surveys (e.g. Daubenton’s Waterways Survey, Car-based Bat Monitoring and BATLAS 2020). The surveys are cross-border because these animals are mobile – our bat populations are shared! Information we collect on bat trends and distributions are for the island as a whole. We share bat records from Northern Ireland with CEDaR.
- The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) co-ordinates bat roost counts and hibernation site surveys in Northern Ireland. If you know of a roost and would like to count the bats out on a summer’s evening please see their Roost Count page. Bat records collected by the BCT are shared with CEDaR and the NBN Atlas.
I have found a grounded or injured bat or I have bats in my house in Northern Ireland – What do I do?
Here is advice for how to deal with a grounded bat.
For more information or to report grounded or injured bats in Northern Ireland, please complete the online query form at: https://www.bats-ni.org.uk/bat-queries/
Photo credit: Karen Healy
The form is sent to a network of dedicated volunteers, as well as staff at NIEA and CEDaR so the nearest volunteer or staff member will respond to you directly.
I like bats and want to get involved in Northern Ireland – What can I do?
The Northern Ireland Bat Group is a long-running organisation with members across the province. You are very welcome along to one of their events to meet this friendly bunch!
There are several surveys ongoing in Northern Ireland that you may be interested in participating in:
- Summer Roost Count – this does not require prior experience.
- Daubenton’s Waterways Survey – this detector survey is great for beginners. Free training is provided.
- Car-based Bat Monitoring – no prior experience is necessary but there is limited deployment across the province. Equipment and training provided.
- BATLAS 2020 – these surveys are suitable for individuals with some bat detector experience. Free training across the province in 2017 and 2018.
- Hibernation Survey – suitable for licensed bat workers. You can sign up here if you already know of sites you can monitor, or contact NIBG to find out how to get involved in hibernation surveys in NI.
- Bat Box Surveys – suitable for licensed bat workers. Contact NIBG.
I would like to run an educational event for my local school or club – Who do I contact?
You will find contact information and query form for events in Northern Ireland at: The Northern Ireland Bat Group.
Photo credit: Karen Healy
I would like a Daubenton’s Waterways training Course or BATLAS training course to be held in my locality – Who do I contact?
Contact us at BCIreland and we will do our best to get your area covered.
Photo credit: Paul Van Hoof