NZ Bat Conservation: Data, Collaboration & Tech (EP31 with Mark Roper, The Bat Co. Lab)

Most New Zealanders have never seen a bat, yet their presence signals the health of our forests.

They’re our only native land mammals, quietly pollinating, eating insects, and supporting ecosystem balance. But with many areas still unmonitored and major data gaps in our understanding, their story remains half-told.

In this episode, senior ecologist and bat expert Mark Roper joins us to share insights from years of fieldwork and research into Aotearoa’s long-tailed and short-tailed bats: how they live, where they roost, the challenges of collecting and processing data on them, and how community-led projects are uncovering new knowledge about where they’ve been found.

Mark explains how emerging technology is transforming bat research - from low cost acoustic recorders paired with AI-based online classifiers that identify calls, to the National Bat Survey bringing communities together throughout the country.

This episode uncovers a bigger picture: how collaboration, technology, and local action are helping us better understand and protect one of Aotearoa’s most overlooked native species.

Here are some of the key topics we discussed:

• Population estimates of long- and short-tailed bats
• Major threats including habitat loss, introduced predators, and light pollution
• Why bats are useful indicators of forest health
• The impact of wind farms and the emerging live curtailment approach that balances renewable energy with wildlife protection
• How affordable recorders and AI classifiers are making bat detection accessible for citizen science
• Why we should consider requiring all bat data to be entered into an open national database
• And much more…

🧑‍🦱About Mark:

Mark Roper is a bat ecologist and founder of The Bat Co. Lab. Splitting his time between New Zealand and Sweden, he uses sound and technology to uncover what bats can tell us about the health of our planet. Mark leads the NZ National Bat Survey and works with researchers and communities worldwide to better understand where bats live, why they matter, and how listening to them can guide smarter conservation.

🔗Learn more:

• Website: www.thebatcolab.co.nz
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574762309249
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thebatcolab
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markroyroper
• More bat resources: www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/bats-pekapeka/resources-for-bat-workers

🎙️Learn more about the podcast at www.conservationamplified.org