Bat Mitigation – Bat Boxes

Bat roost mitigation can be complicated and often stressful for clients. When a roost is lost through development there is a legal requirement to replace the roost, or to provide alternative roosting habitat. Bat Boxes can be used as part of mitigation and compensation for the loss of a bat roost.

Bat boxes are artificial roosts designed to provide bats with alternative resting places. There are various designs of bat box, from wooden boxes to ready-assembled boxes and even integrated bat boxes that can be built into walls.

Providing bat boxes as part of a mitigation strategy can increase the opportunities for roosting bats and the correct design and placement of boxes is essential in influencing successful uptake.

It is essential in any mitigation for bats that the type of bat box should be appropriate to the species it is aimed at. The most frequently used bat boxes are small and only suitable for crevice-dwelling bat species. Some species such as horseshoe bats and grey long-eared bats do not use bat boxes.