The tiny bamboo bat is besieged by threats in south China, where its unique roosts in hollow sections of bamboo plants are falling victim to human commerce. Bamboo forests are disappearing to provide cheap binding for bundles of sugarcane and to feed paper mills. Libiao Zhang, armed with solid research and a BCI Global Grassroots Conservation Fund grant, is educating farmers about how and why they should conserve these bats. ...more

The idea of protecting bats is almost unknown in Jordan. No law or program specifically cites bats and conservation resources are scarce. At least 24 bat species have been reported in the nation – 31 percent of all of Jordan’s mammals. Little is known of their status, although some reports suggest alarming declines as habitats disappear due to urbanization and expanding agriculture, growing pesticide use and other threats. ...more

Frank Bibin, a long-time BCI member and partner, uses about 4,000 bats – rather than chemical pesticides – to help protect his pecan orchard from a rogue’s gallery of pests, especially pecan nut case bearers. Mother Earth News reports that the bats save his farm more than $1,000 a year in pesticide costs. But, the magazine says, “economics weren’t the reason Bibin started looking for alternative pest control when his family...more