Bat protection: Rothenfels church receives a special award!

Bat protection: Rothenfels church receives a special award!

Rothenfels, Deutschland - in Rothenfels there was a special honor for the use of the local parish to protect the bats in the tower of the church. On June 17, 2025, District Administrator Sitter presented the award to Norbert Oestel, the representative of the parish. The connection between monument protection and nature conservation was particularly recognized. The Rothenfels Church, which has been home to an important nose room for the large mouse ear since 1993, is now the 36th building in the district, which is awarded this badge. This recognition shows how important the interests of species protection law are in the event of renovation work, as Sitter emphasized. The Main-Spessart district offers ideal habitat for bats and can look back on an impressive number of summer quarters of the large mouse tube. Matthias Hammer from the University of Erlangen emphasizes that the district has most of the known quarters for this kind in Bavaria.

An impressive number of around 230 bats was counted in the Rothenfels church in 2024 alone. The scatter of the neighborhood of these animals is remarkable: they often raise their boys in the place where they were born. In order to continue to monitor and protect the stocks, volunteer bat officers, Thomas Mantel and Linda Bieniussa, become active. They capture the stocks and offer bat protection consultations. This also fits the examination of the lower nature conservation authority, which apparently found almost 80 percent of the buildings in 104 churches in the Main-Spessart as colonized by bats. The award was given a lot of attention in the local media. A radio and television team from the diocese of Würzburg was present to capture the ceremony. The contributions are broadcast on "Radio Diocese of Würzburg" and in the church magazine "Church in Bavaria".

monitoring and protective measures

To further secure the existence of the bats, the municipality also carries out monitoring measures in other regions. For example, the Nuberstub colony of the large mouse ear in the castle tower in Lißberg is continuously monitored. Adam Strecker is the neighborhood supervisor who pays attention to the inventory dynamics in Lißberg, Schwickartshausen and Engelthal. Since 1997, the bat populations have been recorded there by regular slope points. But not everything went smoothly: a decline in stocks in the 1990s could be recorded, followed by a slow resettlement from 2017.

A technical novelty that was installed on April 14, 2022 is the bat lighting system. This system documents the animals and excursions of the animals every day. An interruption of the light rays is registered so that current data can be provided with bat movements. The results of the past few years show fluctuations in the stocks. In 2023, for example, a small inventory of adult females was found, but the excursion figures for young animals rose compared to 2022. These developments are important for further protection and monitoring of the bat populations.

collaboration and European protective measures

The protection of the bats is not only a local, but also a European concern. A lot has happened since the agreement for the maintenance of the European bat populations (Eurobats) in 1994. The agreement promotes cross -border cooperation and coordination for the protection of endangered species, which is for the preservation of the biodiversity of UtMost importance. Topics such as energetic building renovations, the influence of wind power and the reduction of light pollution play an important role. The Federal Office for Nature Conservation has published translations of important resolutions to improve access for German bat protectors and to expand their skills for the processing of bats.

The measures that are taken at both local and European level are essential for the preservation of these unique creatures. Due to the commitment of the people on site and at a higher level, a significant step is taken in the right direction to ensure support for bat populations.