Prague (Czech Republic),
22 September 2010 - They save the farming
industry millions of dollars each year,
help sustain the world's forests and, in
some countries, are
a major tourist attraction. Bats - described
as 'one of the planet's most misunderstood
and persecuted mammals' - are now flying
out of the night and into the spotlight
for a two-year-long celebration.
Launching today, the
UNEP-backed 'Year of the Bat' will promote
conservation, research and education on
the world's only flying mammals. There will
be a special focus on the ecological benefits
that bats provide, such as pest control
and seed dispersal.
The joint campaign,
led by the UN's Convention on the Conservation
of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
and the Agreement on the Conservation of
Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS),
will draw attention to the world's 1000
bat species - around half of which are currently
at risk.
"Compared to animals
like tigers and elephants, bats receive
little positive attention," says Andreas
Streit, Executive Secretary of EUROBATS.
"But they are fascinating mammals and
play an indispensable role in maintaining
our environment."
From insect-eating bats
in Europe that provide important pest control
to seed-dispersing bats in the tropics that
help sustain rainforests, bats deliver vital
ecosystem services across a wide range of
environments.
Bat populations in large
urban areas can consume up to 30,000 pounds
of insects in a single night.
One of most spectacular
and unusual tourist attractions in Austin,
Texas is the Congress Bridge bat flight
from mid-March until November, where over
a million Mexican free-tailed bats stream
into the sky at dusk on their nightly forage
for food. A popular tourist attraction,
the spectacular bat flight generates millions
of dollars for the city each year.
"When migrating,
bats can travel up to 4,000 kilometres in
one year," said Elizabeth Mrema, Executive
Secretary of CMS. "Africa's greatest
mammal migration involves 8 million fruit
bats that fly into Zambia from across the
continent each year. This flight is an incredible
spectacle that scientists are still unravelling."
Besides the Arctic,
Antarctic and a few isolated oceanic regions,
bats are found everywhere on Earth. Having
inhabited the planet for the last 50 million
years, bats today make up nearly a quarter
of the global mammal population.
More than 1,100 bat
species now documented but bat species are
still being discovered in places as varied
as Madagascar, the United Kingdom, the Philippines,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
the Comoros islands.
The Year of the Bat
in 2011 will coincide with the United Nations'
International Year of Forests. Bat species
disperse seeds and aid pollination in temperate
and tropical forests, helping to regenerate
and sustain almost a third of the Earth's
land area. Sustainable forestry management
is essential for maintaining healthy bat
populations as well as balanced ecosystems
in forests and woodland areas.
Bat populations have
declined alarmingly in recent decades. Despite
intensified conservation efforts, over half
of all bats species are now classified by
the International Union for Conservation
as threatened or near threatened. Habitat
loss and destruction, human disturbance
at hibernation sites, increasing urbanisation
and epidemics such as White-nose Syndrome
- which has killed more than half a million
bats in the United States since 2006 - are
putting bats increasingly in danger.
Bat species throughout
the world need continued protection. Most
people are unaware that bats provide invaluable
services to the environment. Fruit agriculture,
central to tropical economies, depends to
a large extent on the ecological contributions
of fruit bats. An estimated 134 plants that
yield products used by humans are partially
or entirely reliant on bats for seed dispersal
or pollination.
The honorary ambassador
for the Year of the Bat is Dr. Merlin Tuttle,
a leading ecologist and wildlife photographer
and founder of Bat Conservation International.
"Bats rank among
our planet's most misunderstood and intensely
persecuted mammals because they are active
only at night and difficult to observe and
understand", says Dr. Tuttle. "Many
bats are the primary predators of insects
that fly at night, for example, including
those that cost farmers and foresters billions
of dollars in losses annually. When these
bat populations decline, demands for dangerous
pesticides grow, as does the cost of growing
essential crops like rice, corn and cotton."
As the Year of the Bat
campaign brings these issues into focus
in 2011, EUROBATS will celebrate the 20th
anniversary of the signing of the Agreement
on the Conservation of Populations of European
Bats. A newly-adopted extension of the Agreement
will expand EUROBATS' influence to 53 species
and 62 countries in addition to the European
Union. This will cover 14 new countries
in Northern Africa and the Middle East.
New research announced
at the EUROBATS conference held in Prague
on 20 - 22 September has shown that bat
species in Europe are the only species to
have met the United Nations' 2010 targets
for achieving a significant reduction in
the rate of ecosystem and species loss.
Yet this success does not eliminate the
need for bat conservation and awareness-raising.
Many governments and
organisations have already indicated their
enthusiasm to participate in the Year of
the Bat, including European countries ranging
from Azerbaijan to the UK, as well as the
United States and Cuba. The World Association
of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) has also agreed
to be a partner for the campaign.
Environmental experts
increasingly regard bats as indicators of
biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. With
biodiversity as an integral part of the
campaign, the Year of the Bat will encourage
people across the world to get involved
in bat conservation efforts, so that these
fascinating "masters of the night sky"
can continue to delight us and perform their
invaluable services to the global environment.
Notes to Editors
The Agreement on the
Conservation of Populations of European
Bats (EUROBATS), a binding international
treaty which came into force in 1994, presently
numbers 32 European states among its Parties
and counts 62 range states plus the European
Union within its territory. The Agreement
was concluded under the auspices of the
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species of Wild Animals (CMS), which recognises
that endangered migratory species can be
properly protected only if activities are
carried out over the entire migratory range
of the species. EUROBATS aims to protect
all 53 species of bats identified in Europe,
through legislation, education, conservation
measures and international co-operation
with Agreement members and with countries
which have not yet joined. (www.eurobats.org)
The Convention on the
Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild
Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention,
works for the conservation of a wide array
of endangered migratory animals worldwide
through the negotiation and implementation
of agreements and species action plans.
At present, 114 countries are parties to
the convention. (www.cms.int)
