BCI’s latest accomplishments add up to one big win for bats.
01.30.26
If bats had an awards show, Bat Conservation International would be sweeping the ceremony in a glittering, wing-themed tux. From remote caves to windy ridgelines and fire-scorched forests, BCI’s latest accomplishments add up to one big win for bats—and for people who like functioning ecosystems.
No matter where in this wild, wonderful world you’re reading from (unless you are in Antarctica), there is almost certainly a bat nearby quietly making your life better—and a BCI project working behind the scenes to keep it that way.
1. Global Cave Conservation (starring Kenya, Jamaica, and Fiji)
Some of the world’s most endangered bats depend on a handful of fragile caves, which is great for drama but terrible for extinction risk. BCI teams and local partners are now safeguarding critical roosts in Kenya, Jamaica, and Fiji, while BCI’s exclusive film series, Night Watch: A Worldwide Mission, takes viewers inside these underground rescue missions.
In Jamaica, only two known caves still harbor the last breeding populations of the Jamaican flower bat (Phyllonycteris aphylla) and the Jamaican greater funnel-eared bat (Natalus jamaicensis), and BCI is working with nearby communities to protect both bats and livelihoods. In Fiji, the newly established Nakanacagi Bat Sanctuary secures the only known maternity roost for the Fijian free-tailed bat (Mops bregullae), with local land stewards co-leading protection of the cave and surrounding habitat. On Kenya’s rapidly developing coast, BCI purchased land around Kaboga Cave and partnered with local nonprofit Angaza Vijiji to protect crucial coral caves for Hildegarde’s tomb bat (Taphozous hildegardeae) and other species.
BCI’s latest year was packed with projects that protect bats while investing in people and places across the globe.
2. Agave Restoration: nectar corridors and a big USFWS win
If you enjoy tequila, mezcal, or just pollination superhero stories, you’ll love BCI’s Agave Restoration Initiative. This bi-national effort in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico restores native agaves to rebuild “nectar corridors” that migrating Mexican long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris nivalis) and other nectar-feeding bats rely on for survival.
What started in 2018 with a few hundred agaves has grown into a landscape-scale restoration effort that now includes dozens of community and private nurseries, training for more than a 270 local community members, and hundreds of green jobs tied to sustainable ranching and agave-based businesses. In recognition of this work, BCI’s Agave Restoration team was honored with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Champion Award, celebrating how bat conservation can also advance local livelihoods, climate resilience, and multiple U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
And, as a dazzling encore, the Agave Restoration Initiative has been singled out from thousands of environmental solutions worldwide with a nomination for the 2026 Earthshot Prize, one of the planet’s most prestigious awards for scalable climate and nature breakthroughs. The nomination recognizes a rare conservation success story in which endangered pollinating bats, agave ecosystems, and rural livelihoods all benefit from the same landscape-scale solution.
3. Helping western lands rise from the ashes
Out West, megafires don’t just reshape forests; they reshape bat habitat and insect populations too. BCI is working with partners to restore fire-impacted landscapes so bats can keep patrolling night skies over forests, grasslands, and watersheds that people depend on.
By pairing native plant restoration with soil and watershed recovery, these projects help bring back the insect-rich, structurally complex habitats that bats use for foraging and roosting, while also supporting ranchers and rural communities navigating a hotter, drier future. It’s not just about getting trees back on the hills—it’s about rebuilding entire ecological neighborhoods so bats and other wildlife can move back in.
4. Big solutions to wind energy and bats
Bats and wind turbines have an awkward relationship: we need clean energy, but spinning blades can be deadly for bats, especially bats that are migrating. BCI scientists are working with academic researchers, consultants, government agencies, industry, and wind developers to understand how bat biology, from sensory perception to seasonal behaviors, contributes to fatalities at wind farms—and how innovative technology, better siting, and operational changes can cut those losses dramatically.
BCI is testing curtailment strategies that stop turbine blade spinning during high-risk periods, exploring what turbine features may attract or deter bats, and building a global network of regional experts helping the energy transition move forward without leaving bats behind. The result is a future where wind power and wing power can coexist on the same landscape.
5. South American bat cameos you need to know
BCI’s “cast list” in South America is full of scene-stealers you may not have met yet, and the Annual Report highlights work with partners in Peru, Brazil, and Colombia to protect some very particular bats. In Peru, elusive and Endangered smoky bats (Amorphochilus schnablii) are starting to use our newly designed artificial roosts, a key step in their long-term recovery. And in Brazil, BCI is working with the National Actioon Plan for Cave Conservation to protect key “hot caves” that are used by Brazilian funnel-eared bats (Natalus macrourus) and Wagner’s mustached bats (Pteronotus rubiginosus), which are highly vulnerable to disturbance and development.
In Colombia, BCI and local partners have created the Ika Refuge to safeguard species such as the Endangered Antioquian sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx-antioquensis), whose roosts and foraging grounds overlap with human land use and infrastructure. Taken together, these efforts build a continent-spanning safety net for bats that pollinate plants, disperse seeds, and feast on insects—and for the communities that share their skies.
From thriving agaves to protected caves, BCI’s latest year was packed with projects that protect bats while investing in people and places across the globe. If you’re ready to cheer from the balcony, this is your cue to follow BCI’s work, share the stories, and maybe even raise a glass to the bats behind the scenes.
BCI’s Agave Restoration Initiative is a bi‑national effort in the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico, which restores native agaves to rebuild “nectar corridors” that migrating lesser long‑nosed bats and other nectar‑feeding bats rely on for survival. By Horizonline Pictures
