Profile of The Gauteng & Northern Bat Interest Group

History & Background of GNOR BIG:

The formation of the Bat Interest Group of KwaZulu-Natal (Bats KZN) in 1994, which is affiliated to the Friend’s of the Durban Natural Science Museum, and the media exposure and public response that it received during its rapid growth, proved that sufficient public interest existed for a growing number of such groups in South Africa.  For this reason it was decided to get a similar interest group going in the Gauteng area, and also to stimulate the formation of such groups in other regions.

These interest groups play the valuable role of actively monitoring and addressing bat related problems in their respective areas.  This includes informing people of the true facts about bats, involving the public in research projects such as gathering biological data on bats and visiting and monitoring bat roosts and advising the public about bat-related problems.  Basically, their function is to promote the image of bats.

However, it is beyond the scope of these interest groups to address national and larger scale projects and for this reason, the Bat Conservation Group (BCG) was established under the umbrella of the Endangered Wildlife Trust.  The BCG will be responsible for co-ordinating activities on a national and regional basis such as ensuring that there is adequate legislation to protect our bats, migratory pathways are secure, species status is regularly assessed etc.

Many enthusiastic supporters, who helped to establish the Gauteng Bat Interest Group, have also assisted to create public interest and support leading to the expansion of the Gauteng Bat Interest Group (GBIG) to the Gauteng and Northern Regions Bat Interest Group (GNoR BIG) in 2002.  We express thanks to all persons and members for their enthusiastic support, encouragement and contributions!

Vision

By protecting and safeguarding the future of bats and their habitats, we will help to ensure the preservation of our country's biodiversity.

Mission

We are committed to:

• Protect critical bat habitats and encourage others to join in our conservation efforts;
• Educate people to understand and value bats as essential allies;
• Assist in advancing scientific knowledge about bats, their conservation needs, and the ecosystems that rely on them;
• The rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured or stray bats;
• Relying on non-confrontational approaches to facilitate win-win solutions that help both bats and people.

Activities:

• Outings to interesting places such as the Wonderboom Cave, Makapansgat Caves, nature reserves, etc.
• Talks by bat specialists;
  These talks cover a wide range of topics such as general wildlife issues, bat-human diseases, bat biology and so on.
• Training in bat identification and as bat workers;
• Rehabilitating injured bats;
• Talks to schools and the public;
• Contributions to the compilation of a bat atlas
• Answering bat queries from the general public;
• Encouraging the use of bat houses;
• Research;
• Finding & identification of bats with bat detectors.
• Monitoring and addressing bat related problems in Gauteng & the Northern Area