Agave Restoration Initiative: A Nectar Corridor for Migratory Bats

Bat Conservation International's Agave Restoration Initiative is rebuilding the 'nectar corridor' of blooming agaves that three migratory bat species -- including the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat -- rely on as they travel between Mexico and the southwestern United States. Since the program launched in 2018, more than 100 partner communities, agencies, and universities have planted roughly 185,000 native agaves across nine states spanning both countries. The initiative also promotes sustainable harvesting for spirits like bacanora and mezcal, since agaves cut before they flower deprive the bats of food. A related nectar-feeding species, the lesser long-nosed bat, rebounded from fewer than 1,000 individuals in 1988 to around 200,000 by 2018, becoming the first bat delisted from the US Endangered Species Act.