Project Bats and men – sharing LIFE under one roof was approved by LIFE program of EU in 2018 as first bat conservation project in Bulgaria. EU contribution is 60% of the total budget. Remaining 40% of the budget will be financed by friends of the bats – private organisations sponsorships and individuals donorships.
You could join us by making a general donation for the project or choose specific project activity listed in our other campaigns.
Support us in our training events with students
As part of our activities we are going to provide educational events in more than 55 schools involving more than 2000 students. Our targets are small schools outside of large cities where students do not have a chance to be involved in such events.
By increasing the number of professional and volunteer bat conservationists and improving the knowledge and skills of bat protection in Bulgaria, we will ensure bigger capacity for scientific research on bat ecology and protection and thus we will create basis for sustainable and growing bat protection community.
You can support us in our effort to provide access to new knowledge to students by donating to this campaign.
Support us by providing houses and bricks for bats in Bulgaria
Roosts are the places where the bats live. At different periods of the year they need different roosting conditions because of that they often move around to find a roost that meets their needs. Bat houses and bat bricks provide additional hiding places for different bat species. They also encourage bats into areas where there are few roosting sites.
We plan to install 560 artificial roosts (bat houses and bat bricks) in order to provide additional roosting opportunities.
You could help us to protect our cave friends by making a donation to provide bat houses and bat bricks. As a sign of gratitude they will be named after the donor.
Restore a watering place for bats and people
We plan to restore 84 watering places in 18 municipalities during the project. Тhe included municipalities are Garmen, Kresna, Strumiani, Sandanski, Krumovgrad, Chernoochene, Velingrad, Peshtera, Asenovgrad, Devin, Dospat, Kostenets, Madjarovo, Mineralni bani, Kardzhali, Bolyarovo, Elhovo, Stambolovo. The watering places will last for many years and will provide their function to biodiversity in the project area. Restoring watering places that are degraded and with low and irregular water level will provide new hunting grounds for bats and these water ponds will bring benefits to other species such as amphibians, birds and mammals. Farmers and locals will also be able to use again the restored watering places for their own needs and for livestock. This will also provide benefits for tourism in these mountain regions, where watering places are so important.
You could join us by making a general donation to achieve this goal. As a sign of gratitude the shaped ponds will be named after the donor.
Support our efforts to plant trees
Some species of bats rely exclusively on trees for roosting sites, while others use trees for only part of each year. The availability of cavities and cracks in the trees, may have a significant influence on the number of species choosing such locations. Hedgerows and lines of trees are also used for navigation at night and their loss can cause bats to abandon their current roosts. Two of our target species roost primarily in trees – M. bechsteinii and B. barbastellus.
Another reason why we have to plant fruit trees near their roosts is because of the fact that fruits attract many insects – bats’ main food resource. Planting fruit trees is not good only for bat species, but also helps increase the biodiversity in the whole area. We plant to plant 200 trees, but even one tree can extremely increase biodiversity by providing home and food resources for many different species of birds, insects, mammals and many other. Planting will be done in the surroundings of the repaired watering in order to establish high quality hot spots for bats and tortoises.
