Fruit Bat Monitoring in Malawi 

Fruit bats are an essential component of southern Africa's ecosystems, playing vital roles in pollination, seed dispersal and forest regeneration. The lack of data on the distribution, population, habitat ecology and threats of fruit bats in Malawi is hindering conservation efforts.  ​

Bats without Borders, in collaboration with The Rufford Foundation, is conducting a fruit bat monitoring project in Malawi, specifically in the Mangochi district found at the southern end of Lake Malawi. This project is being headed by our Junior Conservation Officer, Wongani Sibande who is based with our partner organisation, Wildlife & Environmental Society of Malawi.    

The following are the main activities involved in this project:  

• Community survey to acquire local knowledge of fruit bat roosting sites. 
• Roost inspection to determine the distribution of fruit bat species in the district.  
• Monitoring of fruit bat sites in collaboration with community scientists. 
• Gathering data on the habitat ecology and threats of fruit bats.  
• Gathering data on the fruits and plants consumed and seeds dispersed by fruit bats.  
• Community awareness in schools and radio panel discussions.  
• Planting trees used by fruit bats as roosts and food.  

This research will gather baseline information that will assist in future conservation planning and management actions of these species by Bat without Borders and other stakeholders.   

Wongani giving a bat talk at a roost site

Fruit bats in masawu tree

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About Wongani Sibande 

He is a Junior Conservation Officer with a BSc in Environmental Studies from the Catholic University of Malawi. He started working with Bats without Borders in 2022 as a Conservation Intern. He is interested in community engagement, mainly to promote positive attitudes towards bats and encourage co-existence. Furthermore, he is interested in conducting bat research to better understand bat species in Malawi to assist in their conservation. Please find more information about Wongani here. ​