Macedonia is “rich” in bats

The first nationwide effort to manage, protect and highlight bats, caves and cave life, which aspires to become an example of their integrated management at a national level, is a European program with actions in 10 areas of the NATURA 2000 Network in Greece, from Crete to Evro.

This is the LIFE GRECABAT European Program “Greek Caves and Chiroptera: Management Actions and Behavior Change” which aims to protect and highlight the caves and the unique life forms they host. The Coordinator Beneficiary is the University of Crete – Museum of Natural History of Crete (MFIK) and the partners of the program are the Ministry of Environment & Energy, the Green Fund, the Institute of Speleological Research of Greece and ATEPE Ecosystem Management Monopersopi EPE.

As part of the consultation activities of the project, an online event was held yesterday on the topic of bat caves and shelters in central and western Macedonia.

According to Dr. of Environmental Biology University of Crete – MFIK and scientific partner at LIFE GRECABAT Panagiotis Georgiakakis, in Europe there are 45 species of bats, of which 36 are found in Greece.

“They are the only flying mammals, they have a wide variety in appearance and size, they see quite well and some better than humans and in the dark most of them sound-locate” said Mr. Georgiakakis.

Regarding the ecological and economic importance of chiroptera, he explained that they have an important role in controlling the number of insects since each bat eats hundreds or even thousands of insects, such as beetles, moths, midges and mosquitoes. Many of these insects are crop pests or disease carriers.

Central and Western Macedonia are “rich” in bats

Thanks to its geographical location and the diversity of its habitats, central and western Macedonia is one of the richest regions in Europe, with 31 recorded species. Some of them do not occur further south than Macedonia while others do not spread further west. The numerous caves, ancient mines, abandoned buildings and old trees provide shelter, sometimes to many thousands of individuals of numerous species. The large-scale interventions in the natural areas of Macedonia, even the protected ones, is a worrying pressure for bats as well. Unfortunately, the available scientific documentation is not always taken into account when permitting large projects in bat habitats, Mr. Georgiakakis emphasizes.

Bats and human disease

As Mr. Georgiakakis mentioned, bats do not have the rabies of carnivorous mammals, while hypotheses have been formulated that diseases caused by coronaviruses (SARS, MERS, COVID-2019) and other viruses (Ebola and Marburg) are related to bat populations that carry these viruses or their relatives.

“However, the mechanisms of evolution and transmission of pathogenic viruses have not been sufficiently understood. “Human pressures on wildlife populations and their habitats are probably related to some epidemics.”

Bats are among the most vulnerable groups of mammals with the most important pressures and threats they face worldwide being the degradation of their foraging grounds, mass killings due to superstitions or for commercial reasons and the degradation and destruction of their shelters. For this reason, they are strictly protected by the legislation of Greece and many other countries, but also by international conventions, such as the Habitats Directive 92/43/EU.

RES-EMP

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