Following our report of similar news last year, the Forestry Commission has today declared the Isle of Wight as Europe’s most important woodland bat habitat.
A recent study combined the expertise of ecologists, scientists, foresters and bat conservation groups to find more than 20 Bechstein’s and six Barbastelle maternity roosts.
This is a dramatic improvement from 1998 when the UK Biodiversity Action Plan identified only one known maternity roost across the whole of the UK for each of these species.
Bats love Parkhurst Forest
Parkhurst Forest is an absolute dreamland for these two rare of bats which are found in relative abundance there.
Bechstein’s and Barbastelle bats are as rare as hen’s teeth in the UK apparently, but not in our Parkhurst Forest. One split ancient oak there is thought to be home to 115 Barbastelle bats, making it the largest single maternity roost for the species in the country.
Bat man
Jay Doyle, Ecologist at the Forestry Commission, who has responsibility for bats in SE England, said, “In Parkhurst, a stand of conifer trees has provided much needed protection against the prevailing cold winds and the ancient oak trees offer crevices for the Barbastelle to establish their roosts. Parkhurst Forest is connected to the wider countryside which gives the bats sheltered routes for their daily journeys of 20km or so, in search of food.”
The Forestry Commission as that other factors that may have encouraged this thriving bat population on the Isle of Wight, are the warmer climate relative to the mainland, the lack of invasive species such as the grey squirrel and the absence of deer that would otherwise be grazing on bat foraging habitat.
