蝙蝠的处境堪忧。北美各地的环保超级英雄们正在赶来营救它们。

四月份，来自加拿大、墨西哥和美国的最高级别环保官员达成了一项协议，计划在整个北美地区展开救助蝙蝠的合作性研究及协作。【请见英文博文】

蝙蝠受到多种多样的威胁。人类活动正在侵占它们的栖息地，并影响到它们捕食及迁徙的方式。北美各地的蝙蝠还受到一种导致致命的白鼻病的真菌的侵袭。

这项新协议旨在更好地整合北美各地的政府机构、环境组织、科研人员、业界人士及其他人员已经采取的措施。【请见英文全文】

根据这项协议，动物保护机构将进一步努力就保护蝙蝠及其栖息地交换信息和工具。环保机构将提出更多的奖励措施，以鼓励私人土地所有者更积极地保护及恢复蝙蝠栖息地。

北美地区的官员还同意改进目前的各项工作，有效地管理自然资源，并进一步提高公众对于这些资源的重要性的认识。

蝙蝠对于世界生态系统至关重要的原因包括以下几项【请见英文全文】：

• 蝙蝠捕食昆虫，每晚多达5千只。

• 害虫减少意味着农民可以少用农药，生产出更安全的粮食。

• 蝙蝠为植物授粉并播散种子，使植物、果树和森林能够再生长。

尽管有各种传言，但蝙蝠既不危险也不脏，而且不会侵袭人类。【请见英文文章】

 非政府组织提供了在各个地区支持保护蝙蝠的建议【请见英文网站】。欢迎您积极参与这项行动！



The North American bat rescue mission

Most people probably know more about Batman — the fictional, big-screen superhero — than they do about bats, a diverse group of flying mammals.

Bats are in trouble, and conservation superheroes from across North America are coming to the rescue.

Top environmental officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States agreed in April on a continentwide, cooperative research and collaboration effort to save the winged mammals.

Bats face a wide range of threats. Human activities are encroaching on the places they live, what they eat and how they migrate. Bats across North America are also under attack by a fungus that causes a fatal disease called white-nose syndrome.

The new agreement is designed to better integrate efforts already underway by government agencies, environmental organizations, scientists, industry and others across North America.

Under the pact, conservation agencies will do more to exchange information and tools about saving bats and the habitats that support them. The environmental agencies will create incentives to encourage more habitat conservation and restoration by private landholders.

North American officials also agreed to improve current efforts to manage natural resources effectively and to better educate the public about the importance of these resources.

Here are some reasons bats are important to the world’s ecosystems:

• Bats eat insects — as many as 5,000 each night.

• Fewer pests mean farmers use fewer pesticides, producing safer food.

• Bats pollinate plants and disperse seeds, allowing regrowth of plants, fruit trees and forests.

Despite the myths, bats are not dangerous, dirty or aggressive toward people.

Nongovernmental organizations offer advice on what you can do to support bats in your region. Won’t you try?