{"id":17140,"date":"2026-09-15T15:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T15:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/?p=17140"},"modified":"2026-09-15T15:34:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T15:34:50","slug":"how-to-be-a-bat-friendly-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/en\/how-to-be-a-bat-friendly-community\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Be a Bat-friendly Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Emily Becker, CWF Bat Research Technician<\/p>\n<h2>Strengthening not only bat populations, but the communities who commit to conserving them as well.<\/h2>\n<p>Traditionally when people reference community, they are referring to a group of people who live in the same area or are grouped together based on some shared interests. But this definition excludes all the other species and living elements that make a community whole. The grass we congregate on, the trees we rest under, the gardens we tend and the plants and animals we admire all contribute to making an area people share feel like a community. These crucial elements are also often doing work behind the scenes to ensure the health and longevity of the environments we share.<\/p>\n<p>Bats are an especially important part of this framework. Not only can they eat thousands of insects each night, making a buggy Canadian summer slightly more bearable, but they also reduce our reliance on toxic pesticides. In fact, in North America, bats save the agricultural industry $3.7 billion annually in insect control. So, not only do they control biting insects (some of which can be vectors of disease), but having a healthy colony of bats can also protect gardens and crops from damaging pests \u2014 an essential service in most communities!<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, right now, eight of our 18 bat species in Canada are at risk of extinction due directly to human activity, but humans can also be the solution.<\/p>\n<h3>How You Can Help<\/h3>\n<figure style=\"width: 933px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/assets\/photos\/james-page-intall-bat-house.jpg\" width=\"933\" height=\"622\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Install a bat house!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Here are some things that you can do to make your community more bat-friendly:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Plant pollinator gardens (including night-blooming plant varieties such as evening primroses) to attract moths and other prey for bats.<\/li>\n<li>Hang baskets and place potted native plants to create food and habitat for insects. This is especially important in urban areas.<\/li>\n<li>Plant native trees, shrubs and plants to provide food for larvae or adult insects and to provide cover for bats flying between foraging, watering and resting locations.<\/li>\n<li>Turn off outdoor lights at night, especially in the spring, summer and fall, to encourage bats to use the area.<\/li>\n<li>Remove invasive plants like burdock that bats can get entangled in.<\/li>\n<li>Replant native plant species where invasive ones have been removed.<\/li>\n<li>Decrease pesticide use and convert all (or parts) of your lawn from manicured grass to native plants and cover. This will help to reduce water, pesticide and fertilizer use.<\/li>\n<li>Help host a native seed and tree giveaway for your community. There may be local organizations\/gardening clubs in your area that are already doing giveaways or have connections to local nurseries that could help you organize the event.<\/li>\n<li>Take CWF\u2019s Pledge for Bats and join a network of Canadians across the country who are helping their communities become bat-friendly. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/conserve\/bats\/pledge.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HelptheBats.ca<\/a> to take the pledge today and to learn more about bats in Canada.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Become Certified as a Bat-friendly Community!<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17141\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17141\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17141 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bat-map-resources-640x448.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bat-map-resources-640x448.png 640w, https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bat-map-resources-768x537.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bat-map-resources-530x371.png 530w, https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bat-map-resources.png 901w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17141\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Explore bat-related resources specific to your area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This year, CWF, alongside the Community Bat Programs of BC and Wildlife Conservation Society Canada\u2019s Alberta Community Bat Program, have launched a national Bat-friendly Community Certification to unite communities in the conservation of bats and the habitat we share!<\/p>\n<p>Building off the existing programs in BC and Alberta, the focus of this certification is to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Protect, create or enhance bat habitat in communities<\/li>\n<li>Promote learning<\/li>\n<li>Provide information about bats that is accessible to community members<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stewardship and management of bats within our communities is critical to their future in Canada. When combined with the efforts of communities across the country, even small-scale actions can have large-scale impacts on bat conservation. So, let\u2019s work together to help local bats!<\/p>\n<p>Visit <a href=\"http:\/\/batfriendlycommunities.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">batfriendlycommunities.ca<\/a> to learn more about the Bat-friendly Community Certification and how your community can get involved!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-excerpt\">By Emily Becker, CWF Bat Research Technician Strengthening not only bat populations, but the communities who commit to conserving them as well. Traditionally when people reference community, they are referring&hellip;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[631],"tags":[87],"class_list":["post-17140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connect-with-nature","tag-bats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17140"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17144,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17140\/revisions\/17144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}