What is EUROBATS?

EUROBATS or Bat Agreement, is the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats.

It came into force in 1994 and presently numbers 32 states from all over Europe.

The Agreement descends from the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, which recognises that endangered migratory species can be properly protected only if conservation is carried out over their entire migratory range.

The Bat Agreement aims to protect the 45 bat species extant in Europe, through legislation, education, conservation measures and international cooperation with Eurobats members and with those states who have not yet joined. In 1995, the First Session of the Meeting of Parties to the Agreement formed an Action Plan, establishing an Advisory Committee to carry forward this Plan at an international level, between the Meetings of Parties.

Monitoring and international activities are the most significant aspects: a pan-European observation study is to identify population trends and facilitate the introduction of suitable measures to address any problems which may result from the study.

International conservation efforts have to concentrate on those species which migrate the furthest across Europe, in order to identify and face possible dangers due to bottle-neck situations in their migratory routes. Therefore, the migratory behaviour of representative bat species shall be examined by the Advisory Committee.

The results of these studies are intended to produce an extensive cross-boundary programme for the conservation of the most endangered European bat species. 

 

EUROBATS Secretariat

The EUROBATS Secretariat was established by the First Session of the Meeting of Parties in 1995. It started working in Bonn in 1996 where it shares its headquarters with the Secretariat of the Bonn Convention and other United Nations institutions. 

Its special functions are to:

  • allow the exchange of information, and coordinate international research and monitoring;
  • arrange Meetings of the Parties and the Advisory Committee;
  • stimulate proposals for improving the effectiveness of the Agreement, and attract more countries to join the Agreement;
  • arouse public awareness, by all media open to it, of the threats faced by bat populations in Europe and what can be done at all levels to prevent their decline going further.

 


Ultimo aggiornamento 27.09.2013