Identifying the most effective conservation actions to save bats
Not all conservation actions are equally effective. Determining which strategies work best requires evidence, and too often, conservation programs do not gather the data required to evaluate whether their work was successful or share the results of this analysis. Our Conservation Evidence team identifies ways to measure and assess the outcomes of our work, developing science-based tests of conservation strategies to make sure that we are investing in efforts that result in positive change for bats.
Objectives
- EVALUATE THE OUTCOMES OF CONSERVATION ACTIONS USING CLEAR METRICS
- IDENTIFY WAYS TO QUANTIFY BAT INTERACTIONS WITH PEOPLE AND ECOSYSTEMS
- DETERMINE WHICH CONSERVATION ACTIONS ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE
- EXPAND THE BODY OF SCIENCE-BASED RESEARCH AVAILABLE TO USE AS EVIDENCE
Program details
Bat Conservation International has always made evidence-based decisions to guide our conservation initiatives, because we want to find the best ways to support bat populations around the globe. Our Conservation Evidence program is sharpening our focus on this effort as a key priority. This team examines our projects and applies careful science-based assessments that bring efficiency and effectiveness to our work to protect bats and their habitats.
Gathering clear metrics to design highly effective conservation initiatives to save bats
The steps we use to accomplish this goal include:
- Identify ways to measure and assess the outcomes of our work
- Identify problematic evidence gaps in bat conservation
- Compare the success of specific actions to identify the best ones
- Invest in the most effective strategies, increasing the probability of success
What are some Conservation Evidence strategies that currently guide our work?
- Testing which tools and practices are most successful at reducing bat mortality from turbine collisions at wind farms while still allowing renewable energy production that reduces the need for fossil fuels
- Assessing which habitat features and resource enhancements provide the best possibility of supporting recovery in bats suffering from white-nose syndrome
- Quantifying how bats’ ecosystem services and the conservation actions meant to preserve them contribute economically, socially, and ecologically to human society
We are committed to being a leader in spreading the use of science-based conservation planning.
- The nonprofit Conservation Evidence has designated BCI as a Conservation Evidence Champion since 2020.
- Our student scholar program awards a Special Recognition for Conservation Evidence to honor students who take special care with this effort, spreading awareness of the importance of evidence-based science.
- We communicate with international conservation communities about the evidence gaps that hinder conservation success, offering solutions to resolve this problem
How can conservation evidence be used to broaden global support for bat conservation?
- Describing bats’ contributions to society by quantifying them in economic terms or on other scales that are meaningful to people
- Designing highly effective initiatives that use conservation resources efficiently
- By leading the adoption of evidence-based conservation planning, we model this effort for other conservation programs, making conservation more effective globally
- By encouraging and supporting bat biologists around the world who gather and share evidence about bat ecology, we grow the pool of evidence available for making effective conservation decisions.
Key Collaborators
- State agency biologists
- Federal agency biologists
- NABat collaborators
- Non-governmental organizations
- Academic institutions