Langley City is a Bat-Friendly Community

Bats are important because they:

• Play a vital role in our ecosystem by controlling insect populations.
• Bats are essential to our economy as they save millions in pesticides by eating nighttime pests that threaten humans, farm animals, crops, and forests.
• Are part of BC’s biodiversity.
   

However, bat species in BC are declining due to:

• Habitat loss 
• Accidental harm
• Bats caught by roaming cats 
• Climate change, especially wind turbines
• White-Nose Syndrome, a deadly fungal disease

Langley City, in partnership with BC Bats, Langley Environmental Partners Society, and the Langley Field Naturalists, has pledged to:

• Protect and create homes for bats: Install bat houses and preserve places where bats live in like large, mature trees, trees with shelter in its crevices, rock crevices, buildings, bridges, and bat boxes to roost in. Bats also need foraging habitat (i.e. where they hunt for insects), and a source of open water where they can drink water.

• Teach the community about bats: Through educational materials, school programs, and public outreach, we’re helping residents understand the importance of bats in our environment.
• Engage the community: Host fun and informative events such as bat presentations, guided bat walks, and bat-house-building workshops.

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Here’s how you can get involved:

• Report bat sightings or resting sites to help researchers monitor populations.
• Protect bat habitat by preserving old trees, avoiding pesticides, and installing bat boxes.
• Avoid disturbing bats, especially during the maternity season (from May to August), and hibernation (November to February). 
• Participate in citizen science projects, such as the BC Bat Count, during the summer.