THE winged residents of Sourton Quarry are to receive a big boost from the Devon Wildlife Trust. The DWT were granted £11,281 to fund a new project to help protect and encourage bats at a number of the charity?s nature reserves. The project will concentrate on two of DWT?s quarry sites, one being Sourton Quarry, which is well known for the rare species of bat that live there. Of the 17 species of bats in the UK, 14 make their home at the quarry site. Many of the bats frequenting the site are either feeding or merely passing through but DWT believes the site has huge potential to be the place of permanent residence for hundreds of bats. The project hopes to convert the lime kilns and associated buildings at the quarry into suitable bat habitats with the construction of wooden bat nursery communes. The DWT hope these improvements to the bats? habitats will make the sites even more bat-friendly. Matt Boydell, DWT?s nature reserves manager said: ?The number of bats in the UK has plummeted in the last few decades. ?This project aims to give the bats a real boost and to help halt the decline in Devon. ?We are really thankful to the Alcoa Foundation and local subsidiary Howmet for helping to make this project happen and are really excited to see the results in the coming years.? As well as funding the restoration work, the grant will also enable DWT to monitor the bats using new digital technology that has been pioneered in the US but not fully exploited in the UK. More information about the project and the Sourton Quarry nature reserve is available on the DWT?s website http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org">www.devonwildlifetrust.org.
