What Success Looks Like
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 Miami Wilds’ lease agreement with Miami-Dade County has officially been rescinded.
This is a huge win for the Florida bonneted bat, and it means the theme park will not be built and will not imperil the Endangered species. This builds on previous victories, including a federal judge siding with BCI and our partners that the National Park Service did not follow key environmental laws when it approved plans for the water park. Later, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced her opposition to the project, outlining her plans to rescind the project’s lease and end it for good, which she has now done.
This is a classic David-and-Goliath story: The powerful developer in one of the most pro-development counties in America against some of the most Endangered bats in the world, which have no power or voice of their own. To win against such great odds, BCI needs broad, unwavering support, from our conservation partners to our friends in the local community to our strong supporters—here and around the world.
This incredible victory is just one part of what BCI can accomplish. As outlined in BCI’s new 2023 Annual Report, now available at batcon.org/financials, we are making real progress protecting the highly Endangered Hill’s Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hilli) in Rwanda, conserving roost sites for the globally Endangered Livingstone’s fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii) in Comoros and recovering the Endangered Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) through our binational agave restoration initiative.
Your support is helping us work to protect the places bats need globally. And sometimes, we can win, even when the odds seem impossible.
Mike Daulton
BCI Executive Director