Bat Monitoring in the Victoria BID
Bats are a good indicator of environmental quality in urban areas as they are the top predators of nocturnal insects and are sensitive to changes in the landscape. All UK bat species have declined in recent years. This makes them a priority for biodiversity conservation, and accordingly, The City of Westminster has a Biodiversity Action Plan for bats.
The environmental improvements the BID are planning to undertake includes the installation of a number of green roofs. By monitoring bat activity (i.e. if bats are flying over and feeding in the BID area) before and after the roofs are installed we will be able to monitor how the environment is changing in the BID and also learn more about how bats use green roofs, an area that is under-researched.
Natural England and the Bat Conservation Trust are working with the BID to carry out this monitoring. We have placed static bat recording machines on a number of roof tops in the BID area which will remain in place for the remainder of August and September 2011. The static detectors will record all bat movement across the roof and in the surrounding area.
The results of this study will be used to inform a detailed monitoring programme for future years.