It's good news for Alresford's bat population, as 30 new roosting boxes are installed by volunteer-led charity Hampshire Bat Group. This fantastic achievement is part of the North Hampshire Bat Box Project, which is supported by a £2,000 grant the Watercress and Winterbournes Landscape Partnership Scheme.

Our local chalk streams are globally rare habitats that support a huge diversity of insect life, making them great feeding grounds for native bat species like the water specialist Daubenton's bat. Unfortunately, like the streams themselves, our bats face increasing pressure from human activity.

Hampshire Bat Group identified 10 pockets of land along the River Arle that are frequented by these winged wonders, and added safe roosting spots in the form of woodcrete boxes. The boxes, which have been hung on trees, will help to protect and expand our native bat populations.

The boxes will be checked twice a year, and data on their residents will be entered into Hampshire's bat records. We were delighted to see so much interest in this project from the Alresford community, and look forward to sharing more updates in the autumn!

Learn more about Watercress and Winterbournes

Learn more about community grants