No “New Bats in Old Belfries“?

Initial £3.8M HLF funding for 5-year “Bats in Churches” partnership project

On 8 February, Natural England announced that The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) had approved the development stage and initial funding of £3.8million for the 5-year “Bats in Churches” partnership project, bringing together wildlife and heritage conservation and church organisations to save bats and protect churches. In June 2013 we wrote:

“The presence of bats in churches presents significant practical and financial problems, which are exacerbated by the protection given by the Habitats Directive. This is a long-standing issue, yet one which has been difficult to progress”.  Continue reading