Bat-friendly approach supports biodiversity in Schleswig Holstein
When house-owners in the northernmost German state of Schleswig Holstein attach bat houses or renovate their houses in a bat-friendly way, then they can apply for the title “Bat-friendly house” at the regional section of Birdlife International and the regional Nature Conservation Foundation
In Ratekau, this project has fallen on fertile soil and the town has turned into an official “bat-friendly township”. Both private house owners and the local authority have embraced bat conservation. Bat boxes have been installed on all public buildings to give bats resting places during the day and to raise their offspring. When new buildings for the local school and the fire brigade were constructed, they were planned and built bat-friendly from the beginning.
Today, over 60 bat boxes are available for the nocturnal animals on the public buildings alone. The authorities advise and support house owners who want to renovate their houses or who discover nursery roosts in their attics.
Furthermore, the town has bought five old bunkers in the nearby forest, which were no longer used by the German armed forces, and together with young people turned them into wintering grounds for bats. An old pump station was also refurbished as a bat home in winter. The measures have been successful: regular monitoring shows that all bunkers and the pump station have been populated by Natterer's Bats (Myotis nattereri) and Brown Long-eared Bats (Plecotus auritus). Pond Bats (Myotis dasycneme), a regionally endangered species, have also been discovered. A nursery roost of no less than 150 individuals was once found in a private home.
More projects are being developed to ensure that Ratekau remains a bat-friendly township in the future.
source: https://www.cbd.int/authorities/doc/Capitals%20of%20Biodiversity-M-45009-2011.pdf