Our project is a volunteer-based effort designed to assess the current status of bats in the Western Russia. In an effort to increase public awareness of our bats, we will make education effort to teach local communities about these amazing flying mammals. With increased awareness, more people from local communities of the Western Russia will participate in ultrasound bat observations, which will help to inventory bats and identify the most important areas from a conservation perspective, in order to set priorities for conservation management actions.

Ultrasound detectors for field studies on bats in several regions of the Western Russia will be used. This protocol is a method of monitoring bats while driving. This Car-Based Bat Monitoring Scheme was designed by BCT in 2003. Monitoring is carried out using a bat detector which picks up the ultrasonic echolocation calls made by bats and converts them to a frequency audible to the human ear. For this scheme, time expansion detectors are used. The car-based method ensures that large areas can be covered in one night and the use of a time-expansion detector means that volunteers do not need to be highly skilled in bat identification to collect the data accurately. Species identification (developed by BCT, UK) with detectors for extensive species mappings in the Western Russia will be used also.

Results of monitoring help us to create and to develop a national database of distribution data for bat across Western Russia. It will help to understand and conserve bats in Russia. It also will encourage individuals, groups and schools to get outside and learn more about nature of Russia.