Thousands of bats will be allowed to remain in historic churches under a £5 million Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) scheme that will try to reduce the damage they cause but also requires congregations to accept them as permanent residents.
The partnership includes Natural England, the Church of England, the Bat Conservation Trust, Historic England and the Churches Conservation Trust.
The plan has upset some clergy and parishioners who believe that bats should be removed because of the damage their droppings and urine cause to brassware, furnishings and hymnbooks. Barn conversions and the loss of woodland have resulted in a growing number of bats taking up residence in medieval churches. More than 6,000 churches and chapels in England have bats and some harbour colonies numbering more than 300.
Natural England, which will oversee the new bats in churches scheme part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, said that it would ‘trial and perfect new techniques to enable bats and church congregations to live together’. The scheme will develop proposals to protect bats in 100 churches in England while seeking to reduce the damage they cause. Ultrasonic sound emitting devices will be installed to deter bats from specific parts of a church. Natural England said that bat boxes would be built ‘to contain the bats, ensuring they can still roost at the church but no longer cause damage and disruption’.
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