Organization for Bat Conservation

Organization for Bat Conservation (OBC) is an nonprofit organization to further Bat Conservation. It is a conservationist organization, founded by Rob Mies and Kim Williams in the late 1990s. OBC’s vision is to inspire a peaceful coexistence between bats and humans and to promote global participation in bat conservation. OBC accomplishes their vision through public education, wildlife management, conservation programs and habitat protection.

History

The Organization for Bat Conservation has the largest grass-roots bat conservation educational project in the United States. Each year, over 250,000 people attend a live bat program or visit the Bat Zone at Cranbrook Institute of Science.^[1] Every year, since 2002, the Organization for Bat Conservation hosts the Great Lakes Bat Festival,^[1] it is largest annual bat festival in the Great Lakes region. OBC produces educational material including the award-winning video, “Bats the True Story,” books, posters and educational handouts. Books authored include the first bat field guide, “Beginner’s Guide to Bats”^[2], and “Understanding Bats”.

The nonprofit Organization for Bat Conservation uses proceeds from educational programs, bat house sales, memberships and donations to house and feed all the rescued animals it cares for at the Bat Zone, and to further bat conservation efforts thought the U.S. and the world. Visit OBC on the Web at http://www.batconservation.org to read more about our current conservation efforts.

Collaborative worldwide conservation projects

North America

• Supporting White-Nose Fungus research
• Reducing wind farm mortality
• Bat house habitation success^[3]
• Land surveys for public and private land owner to identify roosts for protection

Africa

• Protection on Mauritius Island regarding the Mauritian flying fox
• Education on the Island of Rodrigues regarding the Rodrigues Flying Fox
• Protection of the Golden Bat

Asia

• Teacher training workshops in Malaysia.

Australia

• Rescue project of the Australian Spectacled Flying-fox

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Cranbrook Institute of Science, www.PureMichigan.org/Things-to-Do/Events ”Great Lakes Bat Festival at Cranbrook Institute of Science.
2. ^ Stokes Beginner's Guide to Bats, 2002 published Little, Brown and Company, NY Boston London
3. ^ Organization for Bat Conservation, Bat Conservation Journal, Summer 2009 Issue

External links

• Organization for Bat Conservation