Every evening around sundown, something begins to stir under the coral-colored Spanish tiles on the roofs of homes south of Orlando all the way down to Miami. If you listen closely—first for the flutter of a wing, then a chirp—you will hear the sounds of the United States’ rarest bat getting ready to take off for a nightly moonlit feast in South Florida skies.

Florida bonneted bats are large, with a nearly two-foot wingspan, but their defining features are their ears: velvety-soft rounded flaps that fall over their faces like a fashionable cap, hence the species name. But the iconic critters are also in danger. With fewer than 1,000 estimated bonneted bats remaining, the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida is on a mission to save the rare species before it’s too late.

Through funding research to locate the bats and understand their environment, the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida has protected parts of their habitat and is actively working to educate the public about their importance, like how the flying mammals keep insect populations in check. But there’s one part of the research process that will be paramount: collaboration.

“There (are) a lot of things that we aren’t going to be the expert in,” says Michelle Ashton, Director of Communications and Events for the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida. “So, the role we can play is making sure we partner organizations with the experts who have the resources they need.”

Since the Foundation started in 1994, they have raised and given away nearly $100 million. The nonprofit’s network has also expanded beyond the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission to include over a dozen federal and local partners. Unsurprisingly, the Foundation and its partner organizations take cues from the animal world when tackling environmental challenges: The organizations have come together in their own form of symbiosis that turns ideas into action.

Bats aren’t the only threatened animals the Foundation is helping through its knack for networking. From critically endangered sparrows to bull sharks, it’s hard to find a native species the organization isn’t actively working—and partnering with experts—to protect.

Interest from the public is also vital to keep conservation efforts going. Whether you’re passionate about combating invasive pythons, restoring reefs or protecting panthers, there’s a project to support for every interest, Ashton says.

“Pick a cause, any cause,” she jokes. “You really just have to pick a cause, and we’ll do all the hard work for you.”

This fall, as dusk descends on neighborhoods across South Florida, the bonneted bats will begin their nightly escapade, and the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida and partners will be right there alongside them thanks to community support from Florida’s bat lovers. In the rest of the state—from the backwaters of Pensacola to the reefs of Key West—a conservation community will be working in Sunshine State-fueled symbiosis looking out for all of Florida’s native wildlife.

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For more about conservation in Florida, click here.

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