Capacity development and strengthening in southern Africa

We are committed to increasing bat research and conservation capacity in southern Africa, by providing equipment, knowledge exchange and raising funds for research projects within our priority areas. We recognise the difficulties for early career professionals to gain the relevant work experience and training to reach their full potential. In 2022 we rolled out a new Conservation Internship programme in Malawi and Zambia and are also working with African students, recent graduates and our in-country partners to roll our our early career training pipeline. The training pipeline will be delivered online to increase our reach, our priority area is southern Africa but where places are available we also welcome anyone to join us from across Africa.

We recognise the significant contribution positive and inclusive community engagement and education has on changing attitudes towards bats and also raising awareness of our joint biodiversity and climate crisis. We are delighted to announce that in 2023 we have launched our first bat group training course to support people to get involved with community engagement and bat community science! We had a lot of interest from people who contacted us about environmental education training so later this year we will be holding a few workshops on bat education and engagement activities and also how to co-design resources with learners.