Now 10 years old, Hannibal’s Sodalis Nature Preserve protects Indiana bats, promotes recreation, educates young minds
In terms of education, recreation and species preservation, this project is “batting” 1.000.
The Sodalis Nature Preserve was created in 2016, after biologists found that a former limestone mine near Hannibal, MO provided a critical hibernation habitat for federally endangered Indiana bats.
Ten years later, The Conservation Fund, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the City of Hannibal and Enbridge are celebrating a one-of-a-kind community resource that offers six miles of trails, serves as a hands-on laboratory for students to observe and research Indiana bats, and will protect those 222,000 bats permanently.
The preserve’s 185 acres were purchased by The Conservation Fund and the City of Hannibal using funds from Enbridge’s Flanagan South Pipeline Mitigation Fund, which supports restoration and preservation of habitats for endangered species and migratory birds.
“This is a gem. What makes it so special is that the community has embraced it. They’ve created trails. There’s recreation here. They’re doing nature walks and teaching kids about the preserve,” says Nick Morgan, The Conservation Fund’s director of mitigation solutions.
“That’s really what we want out of our projects . . . we want people to embrace what’s going on here.”
Community programming by the City of Hannibal includes night hikes, bird-watching seminars and native flower species talks.
Meanwhile, the USFWS monitors and manages the onsite bat population, which represents a third of all the Indiana bats known to exist.
More than 222,000 federally endangered Indiana bats hibernate in a former limestone mine near Hannibal, MO and in the cave network nearby. Photos courtesy Steve Orr.
“We try to incorporate the public to show them what we do here, and explain to them why this colony is important,” notes Vona Kuczynska, a USFWS wildlife biologist, “so they take that back to the community and treat the bats with respect.”
Sustainability is central to everything we do at Enbridge, and we support community sustainability projects that help improve, grow and nurture our environment through education, habitat conservation and remediation.
“The community has really grabbed this idea and done more with it. And when you look at The Conservation Fund, they like what they do, they’re good at what they do, and with their relationships, the projects become more sustainable,” remarks Joe McGaver, an environment manager with Enbridge.
“It’s a win-win-win for communities, threatened and endangered species, and the project too.”
