How to take part
You can help by taking part in one of our two surveys; the National Bats in Churches Study or Church Bat Detectives from June to August.
National Bats in Churches Study
We have 1000 randomly selected churches for this study. We need your help to survey as many as possible over the next four years (2019-2022).
This study will allow us to:
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Better understand how bats use churches across England
We'll be able to predict how many churches have bat roosts, the factors influencing the use of churches by bats and explore the differences between species and regions.
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Have a more thorough picture of the perspectives of those living with bats
We know that there can be challenges for those using and looking after churches. This survey will provide a more thorough picture of these challenges and current attitudes towards bats.
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Provide better information and support for both church communities and bat conservation
What you’ll be doing
This is a one-off survey, involving two church visits. It consists of two separate parts; a questionnaire and a daytime bat evidence survey (looking for bat droppings and urine stains around the church). You’ll collect droppings for DNA analysis and place a static detector in the church. Click here to read the full field instructions.
Who can do it?
Anyone can get involved! All you need is a camera, a healthy dose of enthusiasm and be able to search for bat evidence in the church. All the equipment (apart from the camera) is provided.
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You’ll need a camera and we’ll provide you with the rest
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Two visits, which will take approximately three hours
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June - August
Church Bat Detectives
If there are no National Bats in Churches Study sites near you, you can still help us by taking part in Church Bat Detectives. Church of England have 16,000 churches across England and this survey will allow us to extend our reach and get bat evidence records and information from the church representatives from as many churches as possible.
Unlike the National Bats in Churches Study there is no need to book equipment, so there is more flexibility as to when you visit the church and the number of churches you can survey in a season.
Taking part is easy – it just takes a couple hours
This is a one-off survey, involving just one church visit and consists of two separate parts; a questionnaire and a daytime bat evidence survey (looking for bat droppings and urine stains around the church). Click here to read the full field instructions.
Who can do it?
Anyone can get involved! All you need is a camera, a healthy dose of enthusiasm and be able to search for bat evidence in the church. If you have your own bat detector and can provide the bat species ID, that’s a bonus, but it is not necessary to take part.