As part of the promotional activities of the LIFE+ Horseshoe Bat Towers project, a training course was held for the first group of trainees from November 2022 to September 2023. Participants were trained in bat knowledge and conservation and the use of modern education and animation methods in its transmission.
Who are the Horseshoe Bat Land guides? The idea was born out of previous training courses we had run for tourist guides and educators interested in nature over several years of the LIFE Podkowiec+ and LIFE+ Podkowiec Towers projects. We saw enthusiasm, potential and excellent results. This has led us to plan a training course, preparing the participants to lead field classes and sightseeing tours, and familiarising them with the biology and conservation of bats in southern Poland in an attractive, but also safe and responsible way.
Each educator-animator will lead their own original projects, workshops and information campaigns. They are also substantively prepared to notice and respond to threats to bat sites observed in the field.
During the course, participants visited many interesting places, learning and exchanging experiences with people involved in bat conservation. From the Ciężkowice Foothills, the Rożnowskie Foothills, the Beskid Wyspowy, the Beskid Sądecki, the Pieniny, the Beskid Niski, the Beskid Śląski, the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, to the Sudety mountain ranges, chiropterologists, foresters, mountain guides and instructors were involved in the training cycle. Their guidance, advice and knowledge was a good school, but also a field for exchanging experiences and acquiring new skills.
Without a doubt, the training was a success! It made it possible to create, or rather engage, a group of people working with passion and energy, and these two qualities, combined with factual knowledge, are the ideal prelude to positive education and effective protection of the Lesser Horseshoe Bat.
The first Horseshoe Crab Land Educators became:
1. Agnieszka Bazylów (Projekt Elfryda),
2. Magdalena Białas (Juralka na szlaku),
3. Barbara Jagiencarz-Starzec (BaśkoPODRÓŻ),
4. Aleksander Kamiński (Przewodnik po Jurze i OPN),
5. Agata Kuś (Beskid Podkowca),
6. Magdalena Kuś (Beskid Podkowca),
7. Joanna Smogulecka-Mokrzycka (JurajskaJa-ani kroku w tył),
8. Teresa Sieradzka (Stowarzyszenie Ekoturystyki „Ostaniec”),
9. Beata Trześniewska (BataLata),
10. Joanna Urbaniak-Dudka (Beskid Podkowca).
The training was led by an educator and animator, Beskidy Mts guide, full of energy and ideas Piotr Firlej, a promotional assistant for the LIFE+ Podkowiec Towers project.
We are planning to continue the training and increase the number of Horseshoe Bat guides. If you are interested, please contact: krainapodkowca@gmail.com.
Here you can find out even more: https://www.facebook.com/KrainaPodkowca.
