Legislation is a valuable tool in bat conservation. Click here to read more about bats and the law.

Bats may also be protected by other means, for example, they may be primary reasons for sites to be selected and notified as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) or a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). If you would like to find out more about SACs and SSSIs then please click here to visit the information pages of the JNCC.

On the Isle of Wight, Briddlesford Copses SSSI was proposed as a candidate SAC by UK Government in January 2004 for Bechstein’s bat Myotis bechsteinii, following the discovery of a maternity roost in 2002. The map below shows the location of this SAC. It covers an area of 167.22 ha. The complex of woodlands here represents the most varied, structurally diverse and species-rich cluster of ancient broadleaved woodland on the Isle of Wight and since the maternity roost discovery, has been found to support an important breeding population of Bechstein's bat.