Decline of rare UK bat linked to tree felling for British empire’s fleets

Rife deforestation 500 years ago aligns with western barbastelle slump, finds study of bat DNA

The examples of flora and fauna disappearing because of human excesses over the past 50 years are manifold, but research has found that the decline of a characterful bat began in the UK when its trees were felled for shipbuilding 500 years ago.

Experts from the University of Exeter and the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) have concluded that a 99% drop in Britain’s western barbastelle bat populations began when trees were chopped down in the early days of Britain’s empire building.