Islanders invited to take part in bat survey

Islanders will be able to participate in an Island-wide bat survey during July. The Jersey Bat Survey are looking for volunteers to help monitor the bat population using AudioMoth bat detectors. 

Volunteers from any background and experience are encouraged to join the Wild Volunteer team. This year, due to Covid-19, training will be online. The Jersey Biodiversity Centre will host this live on 23 June, at 7:00 pm. Tickets are available via Eventbrite. Following the event, volunteers will be able to collect their survey kits before the survey starts on Wednesday, 1 July.

Natural Environment Officer, Liz Walsh, said: “Bats are a vital part of our wildlife, providing a valuable service to our environment; a single pipistrelle bat can eat around 3000 mosquitoes or midges a night. 

“If we’re to continue to conserve the many different species we’re home to, it’s crucial that we continue to monitor their populations. For that, we really rely on the goodwill and commitment of wild volunteers. 

“If you think you might be interested in knowing more, or helping us with our summer surveys please sign up and join the Bat Conservation Trust and Government of Jersey in monitoring long term trends to determine the health of the local population.”

For more information visit the Bat Conservation Trust website or contact Liz Walsh l.walsh@gov.je.

To join the 2020 survey please register your interest and book a detector kit by emailing wildaboutjersey@gov.je. Spaces are limited so volunteers are encouraged to book early.

The Jersey Bat Survey (JbatS) is a research project run in partnership with Growth, Housing and Environment, University College London and the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT). The project aims to assess how new technologies can be used to monitor local bat populations.