It’s that time of year again when people get into the Halloween spirit with spooky costumes and decorations.
Bats, being one of the main symbols of Halloween, are often perceived as scary yet they are one of our most important mammals. They are also essential for maintaining healthy forests. This is why SFI provided a conservation grant to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to help protect bat populations in British Columbia. Part of this project is to educate the public on the importance of bats and how they can get involved.
Did you know?
- Bats are important to the environment because they pollinate plants, distribute plant seeds and eat insects that are harmful to our forests,.
- B.C. has 16 species of bats, half of which are currently listed as at-risk due to one or more conservation concerns.
- Bats are sensitive to noise, light and physical disturbances during hibernation. Human disturbance of hibernating bats can be a serious threat to their survival.
- Human access to bat hibernation sites may also spread pathogens such as the White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that is causing significant deaths of bats in roosting colonies in eastern North America with the potential to spread across the continent.
- Learn more at http://www.kootenaybats.com/.
So if you do see a bat this Halloween, one that isn’t running around and trying to get candy from you, remember that it is a good thing!
Andrew de Vries VP, Conservation & Indigenous Relations
