Bats in mist nets. The chief warden holding the MN to help remove bats.

Mount Hoyo is home to many bat roosts and a place where migratory species range for some parts of the year. Local people have reported that bats are hunted as food. No assessment of biodiversity in the area has occurred. That is why we intend to build a database of the existing information and also conduct an inventory of bats in the site. We will also record all the other species that can be reported in the site as well as monitor them in collaboration with the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN – the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservancy). We intend also to raise awareness to among local people about the importance of bats in ecosystem services. The fact that the diversity of bats is not known and they are among the most hunted vertebrates has motivated us to rectify this situation and if possible, to have it recognized as an important bat area.

In assessing the bat diversity and raising awareness to local populations, the bat roosts in the reserve will be surveyed and monitored by rangers and some of the threats will be minimized. Thus, bat species diversity will be assessed. Thus, bats could live in peace with humans. The information collected could be used as baseline data for this area since it was gazetted in late 1947. Community awareness and sensitization will be carried out where teams will discuss with local communities and local chiefs (main stakeholders) to agree on possible co-management schemes that could benefit both wildlife managers and communities.