Festival celebrates North Devon’s bats

Residents in North Devon are being encouraged to celebrate one of the region’s rarest and most fascinating wildlife species: greater horseshoe bats.

Members of the public are invited to celebrate one of Devon’s nocturnal wonders by joining one of more than 20 ‘Bat Festival’ events being staged across the county. The festival is the only one of its kind in the UK and its events have been organised by the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project – a 5 year partnership project made possible by National Lottery players through a £785,500 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, led by Devon Wildlife Trust. The project is working towards sustaining Devon’s population of these threatened nocturnal animals.

Ruth Testa, Project Manager of the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project, said:

‘We want people to be as excited about bats as we are, and this festival will bring people closer to the secret life of bats – quite literally!  There are events to suit all interests, ranging from a ‘Bats, Moths and Stargazing night’, an exhibition of wonderful illustrations, talks and plenty of bat walks.’

The month-long festival, which begins on 25^th August with a launch event at Bovey Tracey, includes public bat walks organised by the North Devon Coast Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (18^th and 25^th September), and a drop in bat event followed by an evening talk at Braunton Countryside Centre (Weds 12^th September). The Centre also hosts one of the projects ‘Bat Beacons’, allowing visitors to find out more about bats through an interactive touchscreen.

Dave Edgcombe Project Officer at North Devon AONB said:

“The festival is a great way of raising public awareness of these little known creatures. Braunton is a very special place for greater horseshoe bats, as the surrounding countryside provides excellent feeding grounds. So why not come along and join us to find out more?” 

Further details and booking information for all the events can be found on the project’s website www.devonbatproject.org/events.  

Greater horseshoe bats have seen their numbers plummet by over 90% in the last 100 years. Today Devon remains a stronghold of this endangered species with about a third of the UK population found in the county.

The Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project hopes to reverse the species’ decline. Over the coming years it will continue to work with local landowners, farmers and communities across Devon ensuring that Devon remains a place which offers greater horseshoe bats the room to live and flourish.

A Greater Horseshoe Bat – Photo copyright Michael Symes (All Rights Reserved)

👀👀👀

 Tap here for further Bat Festival details and booking information for all the events .