excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral . please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources . may 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message bct logo the bat conservation trust type conservation charity founded 1990 headquarters vauxhall london united kingdom key people neil gibson president julia hanmer joint chief executive kit stoner joint chief executive website www.bats.org.uk the bat conservation trust bct is a registered british charity england and wales charity number 1012361 scotland sc040116 dedicated to the conservation of bats and their habitats in the uk . bct was founded in 1991 and is the only national organisation solely devoted to bats . 1 its vision is a world where bats and people live in harmony . bct currently has a membership of around 5 600 including individuals families teachers and youth workers and corporate businesses . bct s work is based on four key objectives 2 which are seen as critical to maintaining a sustainable diverse bat population in the uk to determine target population levels and associated habitats to secure and maintain the stated target bat population levels to act as the authoritative voice for bat conservation to win the required level of support to achieve the target number of bats . contents 1 national bat helpline 1.1 hours 2 national bat monitoring programme 3 nathusius pipistrelle bat survey 4 bat crime investigations project 5 magazines 5.1 bat news 5.2 the young bat worker 6 bat groups 7 events training and awards 7.1 the vincent weir award 7.2 the pete guest award 8 notes 9 external links national bat helpline edit bct runs the national bat helpline providing information to anyone needing advice on issues relating to bats and connecting people with local bat carers and volunteers if necessary . the helpline received over 13 000 enquiries in 2013 . users can telephone the helpline directly on 0345 1300 228 or submit queries via a form on bct s website . hours edit from october to april non peak season monday friday 9 am 5 30 pm from may to september peak season in addition to non peak season hours the out of hours helpline run by volunteers is available in the evenings and on weekends . 3 national bat monitoring programme edit the national bat monitoring programme nbmp was launched in 1996 and consists of a number of national annual surveys carried out by a network of volunteers across the uk . the nbmp is a partnership between bat conservation trust bct joint nature conservation committee jncc defra and natural resources wales nrw . natural england ne also contribute to the programme . bct runs nbmp surveys aimed at beginners as well as experts and their current surveys include the sunset sunrise survey field survey waterway survey roost count hibernation survey woodland survey and nathusius pipistrelle survey . the results from these surveys are compiled into an annual report available to view on the bct website . 4 currently statistically robust trends are produced for 11 of the uk s 17 breeding species . nbmp data support and inform conservation action and key government biodiversity and monitoring and reporting including uk and country biodiversity strategies 5 the habitats directive 6 and the un eurobats agreement . 7 nbmp data from selected species are used to produce one of the annual uk biodiversity indicators high level measures which are used to report on progress towards meeting goals and targets for the conservation of biological diversity . 8 nathusius pipistrelle bat survey edit in 2009 as part of the national bat monitoring programme bct began the first systematic uk wide survey of nathusius pipistrelles in order to improve knowledge of the distribution of this species . nathusius pipistrelle is considered to be rare in the uk but is widespread and may be under recorded in some areas . as this species is often found at large water bodies particularly during the autumn migration period the survey involves surveying lakes twice during september and making audio recordings from broadband bat detectors in order to verify nathusius pipistrelle calls through sonogram analysis . although data gained from the survey are still quite limited there are indications that nathusius pipistrelle may be relatively widespread across lakes in some regions in the autumn . from results up to 2013 greater london showed the highest percentage of sites with analysed recordings that had verified records 83.3 % followed by north east 69.2 % northern ireland 57.1 % and east of england 50 % . 9 all other regions had at least three sites with confirmed recordings of nathusius pipistrelle . as of 2013 192 volunteers have taken part and 230 sites have been surveyed . bct encourages its members and volunteers to take part particularly in areas where there are gaps in survey coverage and the necessary equipment for the survey can be borrowed from their office . bat crime investigations project edit under the wildlife and countryside act of 1981 all uk bat species and their roosts became protected by law . due to their low reproduction rates and long life spans bat populations are particularly vulnerable to a range of threats including bat related crimes . bct also runs a bat crime investigations project which aims to ; record bat related crimes provide training and advice for the police sncos and bat workers to ensure incidents are reported and investigated and that the law is enforced with appropriate prosecutions educate the groups and sectors that perpetrate bat related crime and create awareness raising initiatives such as the production of best practice guidelines to improve work practices improve areas of uk policy to reduce opportunities for ignoring the legislative protection given to bats . the bat crime investigations project also aims to uphold the protection for bats as detailed in the wildlife and countryside act 1981 which criminalised the following ; deliberately capturing injuring or killing a bat intentionally or recklessly disturbing a bat in its roost or deliberately disturbing a group of bats damaging or destroying a bat roosting place even if bats are not occupying the roost at the time possessing or advertising selling exchanging a bat dead or alive or any part of a bat intentionally or recklessly obstructing access to a bat roost . 10 magazines edit bct produces two members only magazines ; bat news and the young bat worker . bct also produces a number of publications sent out to its members and the general public with bat information and advice regarding a number of topics including uk bat species living with bats and gardening for bats . the bct email bulletin is sent out every two months with current news stories relating to the organisation and general bat conservation . it has a readership of around 10 000 . bat news edit the first issue of bat news was published in september 1984 11 and the magazine is now published three times a year . bat news features news research updates and in depth features regarding the organization and its work . the young bat worker edit the young bat worker is bct s magazine for their young batworkers club specifically for members under 16 years old . it features bat themed activities games stories competitions and curriculum guidance for teachers and is also published three times a year . bat groups edit bct provides support for over 90 bat groups across the uk . the groups are made up of dedicated volunteers and vary in size ranging from a few individuals to groups with hundreds of members . bat groups organise and carry out frontline conservation . the activities each group undertakes will vary but include surveys and monitoring projects leading bat walks and giving talks research projects bat care and rehabilitation . individual groups run local fundraising events for their group and bct . visitors to bct s website can find their local bat group at http www.bats.org.uk pages local bat groups.html . events training and awards edit bct runs the annual national bat conference which takes place across one weekend in september . the conference programme includes talks workshops and the presentation of both the vincent weir and pete guest awards . bct also runs a number of training courses throughout the year for both volunteers and professionals . the vincent weir award edit the vincent weir scientific award was first presented at the national bat conference in 2010 in honour of the late vincent weir . the award is presented annually to a student at a uk based institution who has made a significant contribution to research on the conservation biology of bats . the pete guest award edit the pete guest award was first presented in 2004 replacing the outstanding voluntary contribution to bat conservation award set up in 2002 . the award is for individuals who have made an outstanding practical contribution to bat conservation and is also presented to the winner at the national bat conference . notes edit about us bat conservation trust http www.bats.org.uk publications download.php 450 bct annual review 2008 web.pdf http www.bats.org.uk pages bat helpline.html http www.bats.org.uk pages nbmp annual report.html http jncc.defra.gov.uk page 5701 http jncc.defra.gov.uk page 1374 http www.eurobats.org http jncc.defra.gov.uk page 4233 http www.bats.org.uk pages nath pip survey results.html http www.bats.org.uk pages bats and the law.html hutson tony spring 2013 . bat news 100 8 . missing or empty title help external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title bat conservation trust & oldid 744332853 categories conservation organisations based in the united kingdomorganizations established in 1990bat conservationmammal conservationhidden categories pages with citations lacking titlesarticles lacking reliable references from may 2014all articles lacking reliable references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 14 october 2016 at 15 06 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia 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