BCI Announces a New Request for Proposals (RFP)

Scholarships and Grassroots Grants

BCI is committed to investing in future bat conservation leaders and achieving significant conservation results through its Granting Programs. Since 2007, BCI has awarded over $400,000 to more than 100 aspiring conservationists for projects in at least 30 countries. If you are interested in applying, please read more about eligibility and deadlines.

BATS Magazine

Winter 2015

Join BCI and receive a printed copy!

Our members receive a hard copy of our unique magazine, BATS, four times a year. This exclusive publication features the latest research, news, and topics about bats and bat conservation worldwide.

Critically Endangered

Expanding Protection for the Paraguana Moustached Bat

The Paraguana moustached bat is endemic to the tiny Paraguaná Peninsula of Venezuela, where it inhabits only four caves. BCI is working with experts in Venezuela to ensure that the caves are secure and to expand the protected zone to include the bats’ foraging areas.

Community Conservation

Protecting Colombia’s Bat Species Diversity

After building strong relationships with key local stakeholders, BCI’s partner, the Fundación Chimbilako, is now finalizing community conservation plans for two caves, recently recognized as Colombia’s first “Important Sites for Bat Conservation."

Protecting Bats from Wind Turbines

Ultrasonic Acoustic Deterrents

Hundreds of thousands of bats are killed each year by wind turbines. With wind-generated energy expected to expand significantly by 2030, the impact on bat populations could be devastating unless solutions to minimize fatalities are developed and implemented.

Critically Endangered

Mirimiri – Fiji’s National Mammal

The Mirimiri is one of the world’s rarest bats and is known only from the cloud forests on Taveuni Island, Fiji.

Researchers surveyed for 40 nights and only captured one Mirimiri. BCI is developing plans to work with colleagues in Fiji and from Australia to identify its critical roost sites and enhance protection of the habitat upon which it relies.

Bats, Ebola, and Infectious Disease

The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is a still-accelerating human tragedy in a region beset with limited capacity to curtail the disease. As of October 8, 2014, more than 8,400 people in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, and the United Sates had contracted Ebola since March, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)