Aims:

- Perform several bats conservation activities in and around the bat caves such as installation of bat conservation information boards/signposts and repairing old ones, cave cleaning up activities, and the distribution of conservation waste bins to poor households in areas surrounding the caves.
- Establish bat guardian teams in our project sites responsible for monitoring impending threats to bats/caves and collecting ecological data on bats.
- Develop an action plan for integrating bat conservation into other socio-economic activities carried out in areas around the volcanic caves sheltering bats.
- Provide bat/caves conservation incentives to our newly established environmental clubs in schools and the bat conservation cooperative members.
- Sensitise local communities particularly in the new sectors of Musanze District where large colonies of cave dwelling bats were recently discovered.
- Collect and document data on the daily and seasonal movements of bats in the project sites.

Expected project outputs:

- Bat conservation information board/signposts installed at various bat caves and sanctuaries.
- Conservation waste bins distributed to poor households in areas around the caves are expected to reduce the illegal use of bat caves as dumping sites for garbage.
- Bat protection incentives will enhance community participation in the protection of caves sheltering bats and promote community coexistence with the resident bats.
- Bat population monitoring tools made availed will lead to enhanced bat population monitoring thus providing information about the population trends.
- Musanze caves conservation and protection action plan will be produced and shared with other relevant stakeholders.
- Education within communities where new caves sheltering bat have been discovered will help produce a better informed and empowered local communities, capable of managing their natural resources in the light of up-to-date knowledge about the benefits of bats and the fragility of their colonial populations.