Who We Are
The Central Coast Bat Survey is the primary research project of the Pacific Coast Conservation Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Paso Robles, California. Our mission is to study the biology & ecology of bats on the Central Coast, especially annual activity cycles, distribution, and the role they play in our highly agricultural setting.Bats can play an important role in sustainable agricultural practices by decreasing pesticide while helping to control insect populations. One of our primary programs ties youth education with our studies. Local youth, through school and non-profit organizations build and paint bat boxes for installation at ranch, farm, and industrial locations. In addition to helping attract bats to installation sites, we monitor the sites for use as part of our general investigations into species richness (number of species) as well as species density at the installation site. We also offer consulting services that provide solutions for managing insect pests in keeping with sustainable agricultural practices and can assist with both mitigating bat habitat loss and helping design functional restoration programs that integrate natural landscapes and native vegetation to benefit bats and crop production.
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We are committed to education with a specific focus of creating opportunities for kids to learn about bats, bat ecology, and the importance of bats to sustainable agriculture. Our most popular program allows youngsters to build bat boxes (we work primarily with other non-profit organizations such as Boys & Girls clubs and community-sponsored programs), getting hands-on experience in our build and paint program while making a difference in their community. This program also includes an education component that presents a science-based understanding of bats as opposed to more spectacular and fanciful concepts popular in comic books and C-grade movies.
We also provide the means for our local communities to get involved in and support our bat research, setting up events for citizen scientists to conduct field work with sophisticated bat detection equipment, which allows participants to play a part in advancing our knowledge of bats on the Central Coast while promoting general health of our environment and expanding the concept of sustainable agriculture.
Although our primary study has a Central Coast focus, we are excited to expand into other areas in our quest to conserve and protect bats; to promote sustainability; and to promote quality of life. We are already working in the Coachella and Imperial valleys to install bat boxes on a variety of agricultural lands and we are launching initiatives to make "bat-friendly" spaces (e.g., park lands, downtown areas, commercial districts, and residential communities), with the hope of restoring and enhancing a mutually-beneficial relationship between humans and bats.
We also provide the means for our local communities to get involved in and support our bat research, setting up events for citizen scientists to conduct field work with sophisticated bat detection equipment, which allows participants to play a part in advancing our knowledge of bats on the Central Coast while promoting general health of our environment and expanding the concept of sustainable agriculture.
Although our primary study has a Central Coast focus, we are excited to expand into other areas in our quest to conserve and protect bats; to promote sustainability; and to promote quality of life. We are already working in the Coachella and Imperial valleys to install bat boxes on a variety of agricultural lands and we are launching initiatives to make "bat-friendly" spaces (e.g., park lands, downtown areas, commercial districts, and residential communities), with the hope of restoring and enhancing a mutually-beneficial relationship between humans and bats.