Bat Conservation International


Bat Conservation International is an international nongovernmental organization working to conserve the world's bats and their habitats through conservation, education, and research efforts.
BCI was founded in 1982 by prominent bat biologist Merlin Tuttle. Since its establishment, BCI has formed lasting partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and many national and international agencies and nonprofits, and has produced publications, workshops, scholarships, and research, and site-specific projects across the nation and around the world. Currently, BCI employs a staff of 30 biologists, educators, and administrators and is supported by members in 60 countries.

Conservation strategies

BCI operates by its "10 critical conservation strategies":
1) Accelerating scientific research
2) Preventing extinction
3) Protecting intact areas with highly diverse bat communities
4) Preserving megapopulations of bats
5) Creating global and regional partnerships
6) Addressing threats impacting multiple species at multiple sites
7) Promoting community-based bat conservation
8) Creating and enforcing legal and policy frameworks
9) Developing and perfecting important technology
10) Investing in future conservation leadership

Addressing serious threats

BCI funds and participates in research to mitigate damage to bat populations. Some of the threats previously or currently addressed include:
Being colonial, many bat species form colonies that can consist of millions of individuals.
Because some bat species are highly aggregated, entire species can be threatened by disturbance to a small number of roosts. BCI seeks to protect these roosts of high aggregations, or "mega-populations." Some ways that BCI works to protect megapopulations are:
In their 2014–2018 Strategic Plan, BCI identified 35 critically endangered or endangered species of bats as priority species that will receive a concentrated focus of research and conservation efforts to hopefully prevent their extinction. BCI is also a member of the Alliance for Zero Extinction, which seeks to safeguard the last habitats of critically endangered species.

Political advocacy

In addition to promoting scientific research on bats and their conservation, BCI is also involved in public policy. BCI announces opposition to legislation to mobilize its members against it, such as with Pennsylvania House Bill 1576, which would have changed how threatened and endangered species are protected in the state. In the future, BCI plans to increase its engagement in legislative and policy efforts to conserve bats.