The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved a research project of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) in Lahore called 'Diversity and Conservation Biology of Bats in Selected Protected Areas of Pakistan'.
The Wildlife and Ecology department of UVAS will execute this project at the cost of Rs 3.177 million to be completed in three years. The Chairman of the Department, Dr Muhammad Mahmood-ul-Hassan will work as the principal investigator of the project.
Hassan said on Friday that the project aimed to assess population status and diversity of the bat fauna of Pakistan, using cutting-edge technologies like bat bio-acoustics, mitochondrial DNA and to analyse and compare temporal and spatial variations in the composition of bat collection on same and different habitats equally.
He said the university would prepare mapping of each species using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) to refine geo-spatial distribution and habitat preferences of various bat species of study areas.
Further, the Wildlife and Ecology department will produce trained manpower through its MPhil and PhD degree programmes for higher study and conservation of bio-diversity in Pakistan.
These studies will mainly be conducted in the Margalla Hills National Park, Islamabad, Chinji National Park, Khushab and Lal Suhanra National Park, Bahawalpur and some cropped and non-cropped areas of Pakistan. The principal investigator of the project Hassan said that bats were found almost everywhere in Pakistan and were important to keep a healthy ecosystem but they were seen with mild disdain to revulsion by the general public.
'Fruit bats are important pollinators and seeds distributors. Insectivorous bats consume millions of insects that would otherwise, destroy valuable crops or spread diseases', he said, adding that bats were rarely considered in either environmental policies or educational projects, as a result Pakistan, despite being a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), failed to meet its commitment to the CBD.
'Since there has been no long-term field study on any bat species', said the chairman, 'the proposed project will provide baseline information on bio-diversity of the country's poorly studied bat fauna'.
Further, Hassan maintained that though policies of governing the management of bio-diversity exists, the paucity of scientific information on bats and lack of trained staff in wildlife science have obstructed effective conservation of natural resources. 'However, this project is designed to cover both these aspects', he added.