Antioquian Sac-Winged Bat

Habitat banking plan to protect a rare Colombian bat

by Annika S. Hipple

ast September, while attending the Latin American and Caribbean Bat Congress (COLAM), Dr. Melquisedec Gamba-Rios, Endangered Species Research Fellow at Bat Conservation International (BCI), had something of an epiphany after listening to two presentations.

First, he listened to a talk by Diana Cardona, a Colombian biologist and geographic information systems specialist, about an innovative strategy called habitat banking, in which landowners designate land for conservation in exchange for monetary compensation. Later in the conference, he heard Dr. Sergio Solari, a biology professor at Colombia’s University of Antioquia, speak about the rediscovery of the Endangered Antioquian sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx antioquensis), a species previously thought to be extinct.

Dr. Gamba-Rios, originally from Colombia, saw a perfect combination: a conservation challenge and a promising potential solution. “We have an Endangered species in a limited area, and we have this scheme that can provide protection in the long term,” he says. He invited biologist Dr. Sergio Estrada, of the University of Rosario in Bogotá, to a meeting with Cardona and Dr. Solari to discuss the potential of using habitat banks to protect the Antioquian sac-winged bat.

One of the world’s rarest bats, the species is found only in Colombia’s karstic eastern Antioquia region, a cave-dotted landscape threatened by cement manufacturing and rapid deforestation for cattle ranching.

“Many very important things come together here,” explains Dr. Estrada. “It doesn’t do any good to protect a cave if bats have nowhere to go to eat. Or I protect the forest, but the caves are degraded, and they no longer have a place to live.”

Only a little is known about the species because the Antioquian sac-winged bat was believed to be extinct. Dr. Gamba-Rios expects the social structure of Antioquian sac-winged bat groups to be like other species in the same genus. “Usually, they have small social groups,” he explains. “The males sing to the females to attract them and keep the group cohesion. They have beautiful social systems.” This group of bats is the first in which such singing behavior has been identified.

The name “sac-winged” comes from a gland that males have on their wings, which releases pheromones as they fly in front of females hanging in a tree or from a wall. Another goal of the conservation efforts is to learn more about the species’ behavior and social structure.

Biologist Leidy López-Sepúlveda setting up mist nets in jungle

Biologist Leidy López-Sepúlveda setting up mist nets, which led to the rediscovery of the species in December 2020.

Photo: Leidy López-Sepúlveda

Teaming up to help the rare bat

Now, in collaboration with BCI and an interdisciplinary group of partners, the Colombian team is launching a habitat bank that they hope will ensure the species’ long-term survival. Rather than protecting fragmented areas, the project will enable cohesive monitoring and management efforts over a larger territory. In return for designating land as part of the habitat bank and undertaking conservation actions, landowners will receive payments over a minimum of 30 years. This serves as both financial security and a guarantee that the land will remain intact for decades.

In Colombia, private companies that engage in activities with environmental impacts are legally obligated to compensate for those impacts. Habitat banks funnel such resources directly into conservation. Other organizations or individuals can also choose to support habitat banks voluntarily. “Any institution on the planet, or any person, can buy a bond that also injects funds into the habitat bank,” Cardona says.

The team is surveying a 328,000-acre area and conducting acoustic monitoring to determine the range and relative abundance of the Antioquian sac-winged bat. Sectors where the bat appears to be most prevalent will be designated priority areas for conservation.

Another important undertaking is to identify relevant landowners, social networks, and existing legal commitments and convince stakeholders of habitat banks’ value. “It’s their land, but in many ways, after they have this agreement, they cannot develop those areas of the land. So, there’s some work in the social part to show them the benefits in the long term,” notes Dr. Gamba-Rios. The team plans to hold workshops and maintain ongoing communication with stakeholders and community members.

“We can draw lines and squiggles on a map and say these areas need to be prioritized but to really land long-term success, we need to make sure we coordinate with communities as well,” says Dr. Jon Flanders, BCI’s Director of Endangered Species Interventions. “We want to be ecologically, socially, and economically responsible in all our work because it’s really the only way to achieve long-term success.”

To achieve this success, Cardona points out that they need various stakeholders involved.

“We need all kinds of allied stakeholders,” says Cardona. “Volunteers who buy bonds are an important mechanism, but the ones that are going to inject more money are the private companies.”

Greater impacts beyond the primary focus

Once the various involved parties are united around the concept, the next step is to get interested landowners to sign a 30-year contract to create the habitat bank. Finally, the project will move into the administration phase. Not all the land will end up being protected. Still, by focusing on priority habitats, the project will have a significant impact beyond the immediate goal of protecting a particular species. Over time, as more companies join the program, conservation efforts will expand to protect additional habitats.

It’s a strategy with great potential for replication elsewhere. “I think this can be a viable mechanism that doesn’t necessarily depend on the president in office or the mayor in office or the governor in office, but rather there is a commitment between private parties to conserve one or many bats, one or many habitats, one or many refuges, for many years,” says Dr. Estrada.

While bats are a primary focus, this effort will also protect other species.

“This is a very important initiative because it’s going to be the first time habitat banks are used to protect bats in Colombia,” adds Dr. Gamba-Rios. “We are going to recover and protect a unique species, but on the way, we’re going to be protecting over 50 more species of bats and hundreds of birds, and helping to conserve an important biodiverse area while we’re working with and benefiting the community.”

Back to Issue