Pilot delivery of structured local habitat surveillance by a local partnership on behalf of Natural England
Natural England is inviting tenders for the above project.
The aim of the contract is to explore whether more targeted survey of a structured sample of sites can be used to provide reliable information on the status of priority habitats throughout England as part of a consistent national framework. The work will run from January 2012 till December 2013.
Natural England would like to develop more structured local habitat surveillance as part of a broader strategy and is keen to adopt more targeted surveillance and monitoring of priority habitat condition against a consistent sampling framework. This sample framework will help detect and assess changes in the condition of existing priority habitat within different management regimes at a national, but also more local landscape scales (e.g. National Character Area, Nature Improvement Area). In pursuing this it is important that Natural England secures condition monitoring on reference sites outside the SSSI and higher level environmental stewardship sites it monitors itself, and that the methodologies are complementary.
This contract is to explore new approaches and practically test a more integrated way of capturing information on habitats in which local communities determine how the local coordination is achieved. This work is particularly focused on exploring approaches to monitoring habitats, but NE acknowledges significant opportunity to incorporate associated species surveillance on the same reference sites. It envisages the work being commissioned at a regional scale and is particularly keen to see proposals with clearly collaborative local partnerships building on previous investment by Natural England in local biodiversity data. Similar work is already being progressed within Yorkshire & the Humber so NE is interested in proposals from other areas.
Each partnership would be required to identify a sample of sites sufficient to detect habitat change at a landscape scale; adopt survey methods compatible with Natural England led Integrated Site Assessments and national sample survey work; and commission professional and/or voluntary work to survey each site at least every five years. The findings and outputs of the pilot will help inform future investment by Natural England in local data partnerships across England.”
Tender pack
The invitation to tender pack should be ready before Christmas with a tender return deadline of early January 2012.
The procurement process
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