Researchers at the National University of Colombia are working to raise awareness in local communities about the importance of preserving the caves where bats (Miniopterus schreibersii) seek refuge, and that bat guano is useful as organic fertilizer. Alberto Cadena, Jimmy Ariza and Adriana Albesiano, authors of the study “Species in the arid zones of Colombia” presented this month, propose removing all of the guano from the caves and using it in farming as a replacement for chemical fertilizers.

Manuela Herrera, at the public University of the Atlantic, told Tierramérica that if the farmers take care of the caves and don't scare the bats or interfere with the flying mammal's life cycle, they will obtain significant quantities of guano, which they may also sell on the market.

The bats are important in pest control, says Herrera, because they catch as many as 600 mosquitoes per hour, and a bat colony can consume up to 125 tons per night.