The swathes of cattle-grazed pastures across Pembrokeshire are thought to be a key reason why the county supports 15% of Britain 's population of rare bats. Only 4,000 greater horseshoe bats exist in the whole of the UK, which is why the National Assembly has now given Pembrokeshire's three main breeding sites the highest level of protection.

The so-called Pembrokeshire Bat Sites, at the Old Courtyard Flats near Stackpole, at Slebech Park and at a recently discovered roost near Newport, have been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The SAC will be ratified by the European Commission within the next few weeks.

Bob Haycock, the Countryside Council for Wales warden at Stackpole, said funding could now be targeted to help the management of the sites and associated habitats. "We work closely with organisations such as the National Trust and the Ministry of Defence so we can protect a lot of the habitats, but until now we didn't have the full gambit of safeguards."

Research shows that some adult bats can travel at least 14 kilometres to reach suitable feeding grounds and then return to the maternity roost the same night.

"Such large landscape-scale requirements within the catchments of the maternity roots have important implications for the way we manage the countryside of Wales now and in the future,'' said Bob Haycock.

Bats forage at night for beetles associated with animal dung and insects commonly found in grassland, woodland and hedgerows, visiting cattle-grazed pastures and hay meadows within several kilometres of their maternity roots.

"With a growing take-up of agri-environment schemes, such as Tir Gofal and through local biodiversity partnerships we are now in a much better position than ever before to raise the profile and awareness of these charismatic animals to maintain and enhance their populations,'' said Bob Haycock.