The Benefits of Bats: Celebrating the critical contributions of bats on International Bat Appreciation Day

Bats are important 

From snapping up bugs in World Heritage-listed libraries to underpinning the tequila industry and regenerating forests, bats provide critical ecosystem services that help keep the planet balanced and biodiverse. 

With over 1,480 species, bats exist on every continent except Antarctica. Bats are an ecologically and taxonomically diverse group accounting for roughly a fifth of mammalian diversity worldwide.  

Bats contribute immensely to the health and wellness of planet Earth: they eat insect pests that destroy crops, saving farmers money and lowering the need for pesticides. They disperse seeds, helping to regenerate forests, and other habitats, and they pollinate flowers (including agave which provides mezcal and tequila), which contributes to keeping our food supply healthy and plentiful.  

A UNESCO-IUCN report found that 70% of bat species can be found in World Heritage sites, including Gunung Mulu National Park (Malaysia), home to one of the largest colonies of wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats (Mops plicatus) in the world (at over 3 million), and containing the cave with the greatest diversity of bats, as well as Chiribiquete National Park - “The Maloca of the Jaguar” (Colombia), home to 58 bat species. 

Bats are also important for many cultures and communities around the world. For example, they support culturally important landscapes including vineyards and agricultural sites. 

Bats are under pressure 

Today, bats (among the most endangered of the world's creatures) are under unprecedented threat from widespread habitat destruction, hunting for food and medicine, accelerated climate change, invasive species, and other stressors. In the United States and Canada, White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has killed millions of bats in North America in the past decade, is decimating bat populations. Meanwhile, in the East Rennell World Heritage site (Solomon Islands), iconic bat species appear to have become locally extinct following a mysterious mass mortality event.  

The IUCN Red List shows that of the 1,336 species currently assessed: 

• 25 Bat species are Critically Endangered (face imminent risk of extinction) 
• 87 Bat species are Endangered  
• 110 Bat species are Vulnerable  
• No data is available for 236 bat species (which shows that bats merit much more conservation attention) 

Without concerted and collaborative international action, bat population numbers will continue to fall, driving many species to extinction. 

IUCN’s work on bats 

The IUCN SSC Bat Specialist Group (BSG) is a collaborative multidisciplinary network of bat biologists and conservationists providing support and promoting bat conservation activities throughout the world. The BSG works to ensure the maintenance or recovery of threatened bat populations and ensures that other bat species remain at a favorable conservation status. Current efforts focus on, among other things, understanding the relationships between bats and people, ensuring best practice when working with bats, and ending the ornamental trade in bats.  

"Bats are a testament to the incredible diversity of our natural heritage, with each species playing a unique role in maintaining the balance of our ecosystems. Yet, they face myriad of threats and populations are declining around the world. This Bat Appreciation Day, let's celebrate their variety and commit to protecting these fascinating creatures for the future.” - Tigga Kingston, Professor of Biology, Texas Tech University & IUCN SSC Bat Specialist Group, Co-chair. 

IUCN and its members are supporting work that protects bats and their habitats, as well as bat research in countless ways. Examples include: 

• Supporting the Endangered Madeira bat through BESTLIFE2030 
• Developing bat conservation strategies, surveys, and guidelines to minimize impacts (eg. from guano harvesting)  
• Protecting the last known cave roosts around the world for the most vulnerable bat species 

IUCN also strives to highlight new ways of thinking, which are important for managing bat species that have learned to co-exist with and adapt to human environments. For example, bats frequently inhabit archaeological structures including tombs, temples, buildings, and ruins. While bats contribute positively to ecosystems, their habitation in ancient structures requires balanced conservation approaches to protect both the structural integrity of these cultural landmarks and the ecological roles the bats play. Ultimately, bats should be recognized as integral components of the archaeological sites’ ecosystems rather than pests to be removed. 

What can you do to support bat conservation? 

On International Bat Appreciation Day, we must also inspire action in everyday citizens of our planet. In their own backyard, citizens can protect bats by building a bat garden, installing species-appropriate bat boxes, and humanely removing bats from their home when necessary. Help the Bat Specialist Group stamp out the ornamental trade in bats and never buy mounted bats or bat parts. Consider that bats do at night everything that birds do during the day, and because we don’t often see them at work, we can forget how integral they are to the world and the environment.  

IUCN is currently looking for partners to step up its support for bats, including to help managers of heritage places learning from bat-friendly management practices already tested elsewhere, or how to include archeological sites in bat conservation plans. Some European countries have adopted guidelines to schedule restoration works in buildings of cultural heritage outside bat breeding seasons. Please contact us if you would like to explore partnerships.  

Resources  

• 2023 State of the Bats report (North America) (Bat Conservation International) 

• These Portuguese Libraries Are Infested With Bats—and They Like It That Way (Smithsonian Magazine) 

• Bats in Churches project (developing cleaning guidelines for UK heritage professionals to de-escalate conflict between bat and heritage protection).