AnnualReportfor2024Final2025 - Flipbook - Page 10
By 2030, VWT will have:
1
strengthened the resilience of VWT priority bat populations at
the local, regional and national level with a comprehensive
network of bat reserves.
Main achievements during 2024
A Successful completion of the 昀椀nal stage of restoration
of the new Sussex bat roost
B Modi昀椀ed both VWT and non-VWT roosts to improve the
Photo: Greater horseshoe bat and pup in new Sussex roost ©Daniel Hargreaves
resilience to predation, competition and climate change
A Following completion of the 昀椀rst stages of repair to the
new Sussex bat roost in 2023, the Horseshoes Heading
East project provided further funding to enable the roost
to be optimised for bats and create more resilience to
adverse weather. Features such as an incubator, a spiral
hibernation chamber, multiple cold rooms, new 昀氀ight
corridors and roosting substrates for use by a variety of
species, were installed and the bats are using all the new
areas. During the summer, the National Bat Monitoring
Programme roost count found 12 greater horseshoe bats
emerging, which is an increase on previous years that we
expect to continue.
by predators, including tawny owls and sparrowhawks at
Buckland Icehouse, and barn owls at Rock Farm.
B Work to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions
that enhance greater and lesser horseshoe bat roosts
continues, including resilience against climate change
and predators. A number of roosts are being impacted
The impact of both climate and predator-proof
interventions at High Marks Barn has been written up
as a paper and published in Conservation Evidence.
The Bat Team monitors our roosts closely to gain
understanding of how bats are using entrances and what
measures can be put in place to deter predators. Two
roost entrances at High Marks Barn were modi昀椀ed to
exclude owls, including the novel use of a ‘tip tray’ on
the smallest entrance, and a large timber baf昀氀e over the
primary access point for the bats. These changes were
easily navigable by bats but excluded the owls from the
building. This work was awarded a Bat Conservation Trust
ROOST Award.
10 Vincent Wildlife Trust Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
