First tower for bats

The Rymanów Forest District, a field unit of the project partner, the State Forests, has begun work on the construction of the first tower designed to shelter maternity colonies of bats. The new infrastructure is being developed in close cooperation between the partners. PTPP ‘pro Natura’, drawing on 30 years of experience in active conservation activities, has developed the concept and technical designs. The investment is being carried out by the Forest District, an experienced investor and host of the location. PTPP is providing environmental oversight of the investment and will equip the facilities with improvements developed and tested in previous activities.

The tower and wintering ground are being built in the Natura 2000 site Rymanów (PLH180016). The area has been established to protect, among others, lesser horseshoe bats and greater mouse-eared bats. Huts already placed around the area should provide temporary shelter for horseshoe bats, where they can stop for a short rest, consume larger prey, hide during the mid-night period of insect inactivity or from the rain. They have also been found to be used during mating season. For some other bat species, the huts are temporary shelters for the periods between hibernation and breeding. They can also be expected to be colonised by reproductive colonies, e.g. barbastelles or pipistrelles.

The tower, with a target height of approximately 13 metres, is connected to an artificial underground wintering site by means of a passageway, which also allows access for researchers conducting monitoring. The photos show the initial construction phase – the foundations and basements. This article has been updated to illustrate development of the investment.

The LIFE+ Podkowiec Towers project envisages 10 such towers in southern Poland, which, together with the accompanying infrastructure, will be located in 13 Natura 2000 areas. The locations were selected where the sustainability of existing colonies is threatened and the bats can be saved by moving them to another facility. Further towers and wintering grounds will be built as part of the project in the forest districts of Bardo, Zdroje, Prudnik, Bielsko, Nawojowa, Limanowa, Krościenko, Dukla and Baligród. Cooperation between naturalists and foresters at the stage of determining the location of the infrastructure allows consideration of the bats’ preferences, forest management plans and local logistical and technical conditions.

The tower in Rymanów, like all other planned facilities, has been located in a place where horseshoe bats are feeding intensely, which gives great hope that the facility will be colonised in a short time. Finding a suitable location is not easy. In addition to the activity of feeding bats, it must meet several other conditions, including allowing access for construction equipment and having stable ground. Summer colonies already located in this region have poor perspectives, and there is also shortage of caves that can provide peace and quiet in winter, which is why an artificial wintering ground is being built next to the tower. It was built as an underground cellar in the shape of a spiral corridor, which will ensure appropriate, varied microclimatic conditions inside.

The above-mentioned improvements, developed over 30 years of active conservation efforts, are designed to allow bats to choose the conditions that are optimal for them at any given moment. Changing climatic conditions outside, even with good insulation, affect the temperature and humidity inside both facilities. Different species have different microclimatic requirements. Even for individual bats, the optimal conditions vary depending on their current condition. Providing a range of options is therefore crucial for the maintenance and development of the colony.