International bat experts are gathering in Dublin today to discuss how best to protect the creatures during the development of windfarms, roads and forestry.
The first Eurobats Advisory Committee meeting to be held in Ireland will bring together delegates from Europe the Middle East and north Africa at Dublin Castle.
They are gathering under the auspices of Eurobats, an international agreement focusing on the protection of bats in Europe.
Minister for Heritage Jimmy Deenihan, who is opening the conference, said the agreement played “an important role in bat conservation and awareness across Europe and now also in the Middle East and north Africa”.
The working groups provided the forum for some of the most important discussions and debates about bat conservation and management anywhere in the world, he said.
There are nine species of bat in Ireland, all of which are protected under Irish and EU law, the Minister noted.
“But there are 52 species of bats identified in Europe, and in some countries bat conservation is in its infancy and bats are still persecuted," he said.
“Eurobats works through legislation, education and conservation measures to foster international co-operation right across Europe and the Middle East.”
The Minister said that because some European bat species were now known to migrate across the Mediterranean, north African countries had recently been included in the Eurobats agreement, which now covers 62 countries in all.
Mr Deenihan said there was a growing awareness in Ireland, among both the farming and urban communities of the importance of ecosystem services.
“The value of bats, for example in natural pest control, is one of the messages we are now working to get across to the members of the public.”
He said thousands of people had been introduced to the “joys of bats through the bat walks and bat talks organised by Bat Conservation Ireland over the years”.
Executive secretary of the Eurobats agreement Andreas Streit said the body was pleased to be in Ireland for its meeting.
Ireland had made “significant progress” in bat conservation in the last 10 years and was now “a leading example to other countries in terms of bat monitoring and bat research”, he said.