BCIreland wishes to engage with other organisations and members of the public on bat-related issues. As well as manning stands at events, giving talks and leading bat walks, BCIreland provides training to in excess of 200 volunteers per annum and encourages local involvement in bat recording programmes across the island. Our monitoring schemes to track Irish bat populations rely on sound scientific principles and are taken up by several hundred ‘citizen scientists’ every year.
We are an affiliate of the Irish Wildlife Trust. We collaborate with universities, government agencies and other NGOs in researching bats and their habitats here and abroad.
We also consult with and provide information to industries and agencies whose interests may sometimes conflict with those of bat conservation in order to achieve solutions that benefit both humans and bats.
We collect data on bats across Ireland. We share our bat records, for no financial gain, with the National Biodiversity Data Centre and records for Northern Ireland with CEDaR. Data from monitoring scheme surveys in Northern Ireland is also shared with the Bat Conservation Trust, UK.
BCIreland is an active member of the Irish Environmental Network (IEN), which provides core-funding, training opportunities, Biodiversity Week funding and representation for BCIreland on the Environmental Pillar.
BCIreland’s representative on the IEN is also an active member of the Environmental Law Group striving towards constitutional change to have the environment referenced.
BCIreland is a member of BatLife Europe.