PacBat - News

21st Australasian Bat Society Conference, Adelaide

24/1/2024

Save the date! From 17-19 April 2024, the Australasian Bat Society will be having their 21st biennial Conference and AGM at the University of Adelaide. An important pre-conference workshop on establishing KBAs in Australasia will be held on the 16th of April. The conference will consist of interesting bat-related talks and posters, presented by researchers, conservationists and other bat enthusiasts. There will also be a variety of social events and field sessions. For more information click here
.

0 Comments

PacBat at the GBatNet Leaders' meeting

20/5/2023

From the 17th to the 20th of May 2023, Malik and Annabel represented PacBat at the GBatNet Network Leader's meeting in Baltimore. Together with other leaders from bat networks from across the world, they discussed ways to collaborate, and developed strategic goals for their networks.

The three days of the meeting were jam-packed with activities. The first day was focussed on getting to know all the different networks (such as SEABCRU, Global South Bats, WABnet and Bat Conservation Africa), and talking to them about threats in their regions, and how they tackle a variety of obstacles. As PacBat is still a young network, it was incredibly helpful and inspiring to hear and learn from other networks that experience similar issues, and how they solve them.

Early Notice! 20th International Bat Research Conference (IBRC) in Cairns, Australia

20/5/2023

In 2025, Pacific Bat Conservation Network (PacBat) and the Australasian Bat Society (ABS) are cohosting the 20th International Bat Research Conference (IBRC) in Cairns, Australia.

The IBRC is the most important bat conference globally and is attended by around 500 delegates from all over the world. It represents a terrific occasion for putting the international spotlight on the weird and wonderful bats of the region, and provide great opportunities for knowledge transfer and collaboration, to strengthen bat conservation management practices in Oceania.

Stay tuned for important updates and opportunities to get involved!

1st Pacific Island Bat Forum

20/5/2023

In 2021, PacBat hosted their very first Pacific Island Bat Forum in collaboration with the Australasian Bat Society and a number of regional partners.

The 1st Pacific Islands Bat Forum was a free virtual event that brought bat conservationists and key stakeholders together from across the Pacific and the wider Oceania region. The aim of the forum was to facilitate the sharing of knowledge between community organisations, researchers, and policymakers and to provide a collaborative environment to identify conservation and research priorities for Oceania bats.

The first three days of the forum were dedicated to key threat, conservation and research workshops for Pacific Island bats, with each workshop preceded by relevant talks that provide examples of key threats and the conservation work occurring in the region. The fourth day featured a range of technical workshops including grant writing, field genomics, and acoustic recording and analysis. On the final morning of the forum, the Australasian Bat Society Financial Annual General Meeting was held.

To increase accessibility to the forum and promote discussion around bat conservation, a number of "Local Hubs" were hosted in Pacific Island nations/territories, including Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, American Samoa, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Northern Mariana Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia. Check out our story in The Conversation!