This week, I’m speaking to Jo Ferguson and we’re talking about bats. As with most of our wildlife, population trends show a decline in bats in the UK in recent times. Loss of habitat, human activities including nighttime lighting and construction and lack of food are all contributing factors.  If you’re listening to the Roots and All podcast, in all probability you’re a conscientious gardener who wants to improve the natural landscape, not just for humans but for all species. In this episode, Jo talks about what bats need in order to thrive and how we can make small changes that will make big contributions to our bat populations.

About Joanna Ferguson BSc MCIEEM:

Jo has worked for the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) for the last 4.5 years as the Built Environment Officer before becoming the Built Environment Manager in early 2019. Prior to starting at BCT she had been involved with bat conservation in a voluntary and professional capacity for over 16 years. Jo’s more recent professional experience is as an ecological consultant specialising in urban bat ecology; providing surveys, mitigation and enhancement advice covering a range of development projects, including residential, commercial and transport. She also has extensive experience in scientific research, working for the Australian Research centre for Urban Ecology and Earthwatch in Melbourne. Jo is a Full Member of CIEEM, a Volunteer Bat Roost Visitor and London Bat Group Member.

We discuss:

• Where bats live
• How many species of bat are there in Britain and some of the most common ones we’re likely to see in our gardens
• The biggest challenges facing bats at the moment
• How we can help our bat populations
• Will they get caught in our hair or give us rabies?

Links:

Bat Conservation Trust www.bats.org.uk https://www.bats.org.uk/

National Bat Helpline 0345 1300 228

Leaflet on helping create a great environment for bats, including which plants to include in our gardens https://cdn.bats.org.uk/pdf/Resources/Stars_of_the_Night.pdf?mtime=20181101151554

Bat 1K Genome project mapping bats DNA:

‘Imagine uncovering the secret of longer health-spans, flight, echolocation and disease resistance hidden in the bat genome.’ https://bat1k.ucd.ie/

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