About Us
We are an ecological consultancy with specialised knowledge, expertise and equipment focused on the ecology of pekapeka/bats.
Our goal is threefold:
1) Develop the field of bat ecology in Aotearoa through training and access to technology for all walks of life, from consultants, to researchers, to community groups, to tangata whenua and kaitiaki. Everyone can get involved.
2) Ensure positive outcomes for bats through conservation and habitat protection developed through grass-roots community projects, open and collaborative research, and non-restrictive sharing of knowledge.
3) Help development and infrastructure projects get over the line while preserving and enhancing habitat for bats through science-backed research and management and use of cutting edge technology.
We offer proven on-the-ground support and field data delivery as well as advice, insight and oversight expertise in bat management and bat ecology, and extensive training for bat ecologists, arborists and citizen scientists.
staff
Mike Jones - Founder
Mike Jones has 15 years of experience in conservation, consultancy and teaching. He completed a Master of Science with distinction majoring in Zoology at the University of Otago, where he gained a wide range of experience in the avian world and teaching undergraduate students. He then began his bat ecology journey in 2015 when he worked in DOC’s Research & Development team for 5 years, refining his bat ecology and training skills. From there, he moved to consultancy, working for Tonkin +Taylor for 3 years. In 2023, he founded Tou-Roa Ecology.
Mike has overseen the delivery of radio-tracking programs, acoustic surveys, tree felling surveys, habitat risk assessments, and habitat de-risking operations. He also provides specialist bat advice and extensive training to everyone from novice to experienced bat ecologists for all matters relating to bat ecology.
His work spans a variety of projects, from large-scale infrastructure programs to conservation and community radio-tracking. He has been working closely with DOC to develop a range of training and accreditation services for bat ecologists, which he has utilised to provide training to an extensive list of private, public and community organisations. See our COLLABORATORS section for details.
- 4 Wheel Drive
- First Aid
- LUV (Side-By-Side) Operator
Mike is an Accredited Trainer under the Department of Conservation’s Bat Handling Competencies Authorisation scheme in all competencies excluding wing biopsies and pit tagging (he is certified as competent for pit tagging but not for training others).
Through his work in the Eglinton Valley and his development of High Risk, Tree Felling for Arborists and Advanced Radio-tracking Survey training programs, Mike has been responsible for a large majority of training of Aotearoa's bat ecologists to date.
Mike also holds competencies in European bat work and NZ bird banding.
Mike is an active contributor to the DOC Bat Recovery Group's stakeholder consultations, and has provided full frameworks for a number of their training systems; most notably the High Risk activities framework, the endoscope survey framework and the assessment of new trainers framework.
Carwyn Jones - Bat Ecologist
While relatively new to the world of bat ecology, Carwyn Jones has progressed rapidly in developing skills in bat ecology through hands-on work.
Carwyn has assisted with providing training to consultants, played key roles in infrastructure work in New Zealand, assisted with tree felling surveys and has spent a season abroad in the UK assisting and leading radio-tracking of bats for some of the UK's largest infrastructure projects.
Starting with Tou-Roa in 2025, he will continue to assist with radio-tracking for population monitoring, consultant training, and windfarm and infrastructure impact assessments this season.
- First Aid Certified
Carwyn is certified competent for habitat risk assessment (3.3), roost watches (3.2), acoustic surveying (3.1) and has extensive experience in capture, handling and radio-tracking of bats for conservation, training and infrastructure projects.
Carwyn has worked both in Aotearoa/NZ and the UK and has a good knowledge of technology used for bat ecology.
Trainee Feedback
“Mike has an absolute wealth of knowledge that he shares in a very calm, patient manner (or with vicious wit). He’s fantastic at cultivating a learning environment where everyone feels confident to give things a go.”
“Mike was patient, knowledgeable, and dedicated – often spending hours teaching beginners how to handle bats correctly. His ability to break down complex concepts into manageable steps was invaluable.”
It [sic] has been highly rewarding. Particularly radio tracking. I had the opportunity to put all my radio tracking techniques into practice and it was really really fun and awesome to see how much I had actually learnt."
“[I am] feeling a lot more confident with these skills, in terms of placement, having enough ABMs, what features to target. [I] have picked up bats on some sites. Also have been able to practice identifying roost features for impact assessments.”
“The drive of resources provided on the online portion of the training are very useful. I revisit these resources when undertaking works. I found the hands on approach in which enactment of real-life surveys were used during training very useful. I appreciated having the training in several different landscapes/habitat types to employ our situational awareness and understand what to look for.”
Collaborators
We’re proud to have worked with an impressive group of clients, contractors, community groups and conservation organisations.
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• Contact us to discuss your unique project.
