Scotophilus nucella removed from a mist net.

Robbin’s house bat (Scotophilus nucella) is a rare microbat only known from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda, and has been listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red list. During a 2003 Rapid Assessment Survey organized by Conservation International in Ghana, Decher and Fahr sampled ten individuals of S. nucella in the Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve (KHFR) representing the highest possible numbers recorded from a single locality for this species. Since then, there has been no dedicated survey to determine their distribution, ecological requirement, and threats at KHFR or elsewhere in the region. Therefore, this project propose a long-term study to establish the species' distribution and abundance in KHFR. The study will also determine their ecological requirement in this reserve. This project will identify and map critical habitats important to the survival of S. nucella in the Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve.

With rapidly declining habitat due to illegal logging and agriculture, there is an urgent need for stakeholder dialogue and education especially in fringe communities for specific interventions to safeguard the restricted population of this species inside the KHFR. Conservation awareness campaign and capacity building activities will educate the local people and students on the importance of the species and the benefits they could derive from ensuring that this bat's habitats are secured. This will make local people take special pride in this species and undertake necessary efforts to halt imminent and ongoing activities that are detrimental to the long-term persistence of bats. This will also ensure that more Ghanaian students become aware of bat species decline and motivated to take an active interest in bat research and conservation. This research findings will set the groundwork for future surveys and monitoring of the species’ population in KHFR and elsewhere in Ghana.

Although this project focuses mainly on bats, conservation awareness targeting habitat protection will directly benefit several other rare and endemic species such as the frog Phrynobatrachus annulatus (IUCN Endangered), the olive colobus monkey (Procolobus verus; IUCN Near Threatened), and the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus; IUCN Endangered) in the reserve.