ACAP Cape Breton is pleased to invite the public to a presentation at their members meeting about bat monitoring and climate change adaptation in Cape Breton. The event will take place Monday, February 2, 7-8:30pm at the Centre for Sustainable Communities, 582 George Street in Sydney.
ACAP Cape Breton has been monitoring bats in Cape Breton since spring of 2013. Acoustic monitors are used to record the ultrasonic calls bats produce when flying and feeding in the summer. In the winter time, the detectors are used to listen for signs of activity at hibernation sites.
“Winter bat monitoring is really valuable because it’s during this season when the effects of white-nose syndrome are most apparent,” says Jared Tomie, Environmental Project Manager at ACAP Cape Breton. “Our bats are generally dormant in caves and mines during the winter months, so if we record a bat flying in the open air, looking for food in subzero temperatures, it means something is wrong – especially now that a few cases of white-nose syndrome have been confirmed on the Island.”
The meeting will also include an update on the climate change adaptation project. “So far, we have used knowledge from local communities as well as historical erosion rates gleaned from GIS mapping technology to identify areas along the Marconi Trail vulnerable to climate change,” says Ashley Shelton, Project Coordinator at ACAP Cape Breton and GIS lead for the project, “The next stage of the project is to provide community adaptation recommendations to reduce hazard vulnerabilities in these coastal areas.”
Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, phone ACAP CB at 902-567-1628 or email jtomie@acapcb.ns.ca or ashelton@acapcb.ns.ca.
ACAP Cape Breton is a non-profit, charitable community organization with a community vision in which local people are actively engaged, working, and learning together to build a healthy and sustainable Island.
