Best practices manual for the conservation of bats in forests

The general goal of the project is promotion of the best practices, related to protection of biodiversity in forests, especially in the Nature 2000 areas.

Project objectives are also:

• Identification of good practices in biodiversity protection in forest areas, especially within the Nature 2000 areas.
• Wide disperse and promotion of the best practices in species and habitats protection
• Presenting forms and methods of biodiversity protection and sustainable management to the key target recipients
• Development of “road maps for 11 chosen species or habitats protection which could be applied as regulation for all State Forests Districts
• Creating platform of dialogue and cooperation among different parties focusing on currently identified biodiversity issues, especially in relation to the Nature 2000 species and habitats
• Increasing awareness of society at large of both richness and importance of biodiversity protection in forest areas in general and in Nature 2000 sites

Poland's territory extends across several geographical regions. In the north-west is the Baltic seacoast, which extends from the Bay of Pomerania to the Gulf of Gdańsk. The centre and parts of the north of the country lie within the North European Plain. Rising above these lowlands is a geographical region comprising four hilly districts of moraines and moraine-dammed lakes. Farther south is a mountainous region, including the Carpathian Mountains.

Forests cover about 30.5% of Poland's land area based on international standards. Its overall percentage is still increasing. The richness of Polish forest is more than twice as high as European average (with Germany and France at the top), containing 2.304 billion cubic metres of trees. The largest forest complex in Poland is Lower Silesian Wilderness. Białowieża Forest is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain. 

Poland has the eighth-largest population in Europe and the sixth-largest in the European Union. It has a population density of 122 inhabitants per square kilometer. Poland's economy is considered to be one of the more resilient of the post-Communist countries and is one of the fastest growing within the EU. It has over two million private farms. It is the leading producer in Europe of potatoes and rye, the world's largest producer of triticale, and one of the more important producers of barley, oats, sugar beets, flax, and fruits. Poland is the European Union's fourth largest supplier of pork after Germany, Spain and France

The main threat to bats is human activity if it causes adverse changes in the environment.  

Also, knowledge about bats living in forests still requires complementation. Too little is known about the occurrence and threats to the species listed in Annex II of the Habitats Directive ("nature" species), especially rare and difficult to investigate ones.

Threats to bats can be divided into seasonal (different in the summer and the winter) and year-round, essentially related to the infrastructure built by man. 

• Risks in winter: destroying hideouts (hibernacula), their excessive penetration by the people and killing hibernating bats, as well as changes in the microclimate conditions on wintering grounds.
• Risks in summer: destroying roosts of summer bat colonies, destroying another kind of shelter (eg. temporary hiding places or swarming sites), a deprivation of feeding sites, as well as killing bats along their flight paths
• Year-round hazards related to infrastructure: These risks can be divided into those associated with the construction process and the occurring during the exploitation period

Best practice manual is a collection of expertise prepared by the best experts in country in species or habitats protection.

Information about best practices in biodiversity protection is addressed mainly to professional groups, which can be the most effective in further popularization of identified, sometimes experimental, methods.

For the manual’s realization a group of experts has to be identified, chosen by public procurement procedure.

Their task is to precisely identify and propose best practices for the protection of forest-related bats, to prepare technical assumptions for future activities and to develop road maps, which could be applied as regulation for all State Forests Districts.

The manual contains:

• descriptions of chosen issues of biology for specific species, country and world occurrence, threats and recommended protection activities,
• the newest results of monitoring and research in species protection,
• detailed descriptions of activities chosen as a best practices in species and habitat protection, with guidelines for follow up activities for nature protection,
• a description of projects previously identified as the best practices,
• constraints and problems encountered during its implementation along with some pieces of advice on how to avoid them.

The selection of best practices and projects containing them was based on previously prepared criteria.

Experts met several times.

During meetings experts identified and described places of project realization named as the best practices. They also pointed out activities which are most valuable for future species and habitat protection in Poland. Moreover, groups of experts prepared “road maps” for further species and habitat protection activities and policy making.

Stakeholders can also be the reviewers of best practice manual or their parts, described activities conducted by those persons.

The contents of the manual can also be used to carry out training activities (workshops), giving knowledge of biology, the possible threats and ways to protect the species. Meetings, led by experts from the given fields, can be divided in two parts. First – theoretic – where the participants learn about the species/habitat, its occurrence, habitat demands, threats and ways of protection. Best practices and previously chosen projects are discussed. The second part take place in the field. Participants have a chance of a direct meeting with different species and their habitats and observing the effects of protection activities.

In this specific case, the manual for the protection of bats (in attachment) reports:

• General information about bats, especially for those associated with the forest environment
• Risks and methods in the conservation of bats (threats and protection)
• Best practices in the conservation of bats, derived from Polish projects
• Other methods for the conservation of bats
• List of useful addresses  

Protection of bats living in forests, especially in the Nature 2000 areas, by:

• promoting the related best practices
• conveying useful information concerning both the bats living in forests, as well as the factors that threaten them
• propagating actions to protect these rare and important for the forest ecosystem animals.