AnnualReportfor20251SeptCOMP2026 - Flipbook - Page 11
By 2030, VWT will have:
2
improved methods of bat conservation at a landscape scale,
including techniques for enhancing landscape permeability,
roosting opportunities and habitat for VWT priority bats.
Main achievements during 2025
A Landscape for Lessers — a new landscape-scale
project for lesser horseshoe bats
B Continued conservation of barbastelle bats
in Pembrokeshire
C A new and resilient network of horsehoe bat roosts
through the Horseshoes Heading East project
A VWT launched Britain’s 昀椀rst landscape-scale project for
lesser horseshoe bats in Wales — Landscape for Lessers — a
three-year project made possible by an award of nearly
£1m from the Welsh Government’s Nature Networks Fund
and delivered through the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Wales is a key stronghold for lesser horseshoe bats,
supporting some of the largest and most important
populations in Europe. However, these populations are under
pressure from loss of roosting sites and foraging habitats,
predation and competition from other bat species. Action
is needed to strengthen the recovery of lesser horseshoe
populations and secure a resilient future for the species.
Photo: Lesser horseshoe bats ©Daniel Hargreaves
Through this project, VWT is taking a strategic approach
to secure the future of the species in Wales by:
• enhancing existing roosting sites (buildings) to
improve breeding success, buffer against climate
change and secure them from predators;
• building bespoke bat towers in key areas;
• improving landscape connectivity to allow bats to disperse
from key areas and connect fragmented populations.
B VWT is a core partner in Natur am Byth!, taking
the lead in the conservation efforts for barbastelles in
Pembrokeshire, including training local volunteers in
acoustic surveying to help identify new barbastelle colonies.
Data obtained through this project is helping to highlight
important areas for appropriate woodland management
and is identifying opportunities to enhance roosting habitat
and improve connectivity in the wider landscape. To date,
this survey work has gathered around 1.7 million passive
acoustic records across Pembrokeshire with around 4,000
barbastelle calls detected across 14 woodland sites.
Data analysis is ongoing but key headlines are:
• historic maternity colony sites that have not been
recently surveyed still have good numbers of
barbastelles present;
• though not indicating a maternity colony, a few records
at previously unmonitored sites do indicate that the
species range is much larger than previously known;
• one site meets the scienti昀椀c threshold for a potential
new maternity colony and requires further investigation
during 2026.
The model has analysed woodland structure and compares
VWT’s data on maternity against non-maternity woodlands
and the survey results are being used to develop a predictor
for barbastelle distribution across the whole of Britain.
C Following our purchase and restoration of the Sussex bat
roost, we completed the 昀椀nal stages of this project in 2025
by transforming surrounding habitats to support a growing
population of greater horseshoe bats. Funded by Natural
England’s Species Recovery Programme, we created two
new greater horseshoe roosts in key recovery areas,
enhanced a range of hibernation sites and monitored the
recovery of the species in the southeast.
This landscape approach and network of resilient
roosts helps realise our project vision ‘... that greater
horseshoe bats are once again established and thriving
in the southeast through a series of connected roosts,
and that this can be replicated elsewhere.’ The funders
were impressed by the legacy of our work as the roosts
will remain in the landscape for decades with minimal
maintenance, demonstrating amazing value for money
whilst providing a secure resource to help species recover.
We are now focusing our attention on areas throughout
Hampshire and Wiltshire to further support the movement
of greater horseshoe bats across southern England.
Vincent Wildlife Trust Annual Report and Financial Statements 2025 11
