Vincent Wildlife Trust
In 1980, the Trust purchased a farm building in Devon that is now home to the largest known maternity colony of greater horseshoe bats in western Europe.In 2021, following the discovery of a small colony of breeding greater horseshoe bats in a derelict stable in West Sussex —the first record in 100 years in southeast England, Vincent Wildlife Trust launched an appeal[17] in partnership with Sussex Bat Group[18] to raise funds to buy the building and to turn it into a suitable maternity roost for this rare species.The project has provided new and permanent summer roosting sites for the species in lowland locations within the Mulkear River Catchment and raised awareness of the important role that farmers play in its conservation.The new roosts are located on farms within a few kilometres of waterways or woodlands that will, in time, increase the chances of this species being able to connect with colonies in other areas of Limerick and reduce the risk of inbreeding.The study incorporates datasets on land cover, roads, linear habitat features and density of artificial lighting to produce a baseline map of potential ecological corridors to connect lesser horseshoe bat sub-populations.[29] By the early part of the 20th century, the pine marten in Britain was confined to the Northwest Highlands of Scotland and isolated pockets of the uplands of northern England and Wales.[43] This project monitored and paved the way for the recovery of the pine marten in northern England as the population spreads south from Scotland.Between May 2022 and May 2023, VWT carried out the Development Phase of National Lottery Heritage Fund project – Martens on the Move,[45] which was granted funding for a four-year project to work with local communities to help the long-term survival of pine martens and to ensure gene flow between the new populations, and their expansion across the counties.VWT Ireland launched a two-year Irish Stoat Citizen Science Survey[46]in February 2023, which calls for sightings of the native mammal.