After three years of executing our highest priority campaign—sharing our research with decision-makers, partnering with local communities to raise our voices, and filing court challenges against the misguided development plans— we are now celebrating a monumental victory. Miami Wilds’ lease agreement with Miami-Dade County has officially been rescinded.

hen bat scientists want to find the best ways to save bats, looking at previous research is a great way to start. Seeking out what is referred to as “Conservation Evidence” is how researchers can see what we already know, how effective interventions are, and what research gaps are left to fill.

A perusal of the University of Cambridge’s Conservation Evidence website database shows 200 potential actions related to bat conservation. For each of these actions, the Conservation Evidence database compiles and summarizes published scientific studies that measure the effectiveness of each action. The consistency of results and number of studies on an action are then used to rank each action by the evidence. For example, increasing the wind speed at which wind turbine blades begin to spin has a dozen studies with consistent results showing this works to reduce bat fatalities, so it is ranked as “beneficial.” In contrast, using ultrasound to deter bats from wind turbines has only four studies with mixed results, resulting in a rank of “unknown effectiveness.” Other actions, such as installing bat gantries or bat bridges to help bats cross roads and railways, were found unlikely to be beneficial, with three studies providing information. When no studies have been published on a particular action, the database marks these as “no evidence found.“

Although the more than a dozen species of bats that call Moab home play an essential role in the area’s ecosystem, they initially weren’t welcomed as part of the landscape at The Moab Resort, WorldMark Associate. However, the resort’s maintenance manager, the late John Thomas, set out to change that.

When she returned to Oregon, Grunwald began raising funds to conduct a biodiversity survey, intending to involve as many Cameroonian students as possible in her Ph.D. research. After connecting with Cameroon’s top bat biologist—Eric Moise Bakwo Fils, Ph.D.—she was introduced to Franck Meyo, who was equally enthusiastic about bats. Meyo had just completed his master’s degree at the University of Douala and is now working towards his doctorate at the same institution.

n New Mexico, artists picked up their paints and brought their nature visions to life on a grand scale, creating murals featuring Endangered nectar-feeding bats. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, BCI supported two New Mexico mural projects depicting these incredible bats and other Endangered wildlife. BCI assisted with funding and providing images of bats and agaves for artists to reference.

Chelenzo Farms is located outside of the city of Santa Fe in the high mountain desert of Cerrillos, New Mexico. Lorenzo Dominguez and Dr. Chelsea Hollander own the regenerative farm and hacienda, and they sought support from Mexican muralist HOKZYN to create a mural depicting Mayáhuel, Aztec goddess of maguey, the Nahuatl name for the sacred agave plant, surrounded by two Mexican long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris nivalis) pollinating the agave flowers. The artwork was revealed last summer at a sunset grand opening, which brought the community together to celebrate the mural and the conservation of wildlife species.

CI’s Agave Restoration Coordinator, Rachel Burke, collaborates with stakeholders to lead United States-based agave restoration work. Before joining BCI in November 2023, Burke worked in wildlife habitat conservation for state and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service. Her graduate thesis work at New Mexico State University focused on building models of bat habitat and seasonal nectar availability in bat migration corridors. Now, her work at BCI focuses on the same nectar bats.

aomi d’Alessio has always loved bats, and she’s had more experience with bats than most adults. She attended a bat conservation and ecology class at San Francisco State University’s Sierra Nevada Field Campus as an observer, and enjoyed it so much that she got her rabies vaccine so she could take the class again as a hands-on participant, handling pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus).

Using mist nets to capture bats, see them up close, record data, and then release them, was thrilling for d’Alessio, who is in 7th grade. She loved the opportunity to see them up close. “In your hands, you see just how small they are,” she says. “That was definitely a surprise.”