Lizette Siles
Bolivian Bat Conservation & Community Education Project
One important part of this project will be the educational workshops carried out in rural areas of Bolivia, where villagers will observe live bats and learn their ecological importance (Photo: Arturo Muñoz).
| Location | Country | Categories | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolivia | Bats, Central and Latin America, Education, Forests | 19 Oct 2003 |
Bolivian bats (Chiroptera) represent one of the most specious mammalian groups, with an estimated diversity of 120 species, accounting for a third of all Bolivian mammal species. Despite their high species richness and wide distribution, knowledge of basic biology, ecology, distribution and the present state of threats of almost all Bolivian bats remains poor. Furthermore, bats play an undervalued role in forest regeneration, pollinating and dispersing many plant species and are thus potentially important to local human populations, as these plants are a source for commercial timber, traditional housing material, foods and medicines.
These important relationships are poorly understood and little appreciated with no active programs attempting to educate people in rural areas about the important role that bats play in the ecosystem. One of the results of the first RSG project showed that there is an urgent need for further evaluation of bat communities in many sites across Bolivia.
Contact the team at Liz_siles@yahoo.com