Bat counts

Altogether, 16 bat species can be found across the Netherlands; the populations of 8 species are monitored by the bat monitoring network. These are mainly bats hibernating in pits, cellars and bunkers. In summer, several species are counted in church and monastery attics. Counting bats in church and monastery attics is relatively easy and done since the 1980s.
The bat monitoring network is part of the Network Ecological Monitoring (NEM), a collaboration platform between the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, provincial authorities and Statistics Netherlands. The network gathers information for the national government on the natural environment. The fieldwork is done by volunteers and coordinated by the Dutch Mammal Society.

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