UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

Via Executive Leadership coaching/development sessions (including in-person sessions and one to one coaching sessions), establish the best ways for the Executive Leadership Team to develop the health of the organisation and agree visions, priorities and key areas of focus to take forward as well as establishing peer support within the team to assist in providing leadership to the organisation. This project is one in a series of elements making up the Executive Leadership team coaching package for 2021/22-2022/23. This project could potentially continue into 2023/24 if a need for further work is identified during the course of this project. As a whole, the ELT coaching programme aims to create a more cohesive senior leadership team who understand each other's strengths and weaknesses and are able to manage and set direction for the organisation effectively. JNCC has offices in both Peterborough and Aberdeen. In person sessions will either need to be in one of these locations, or centrally at an external location all participants can easily access. Additional information: You are invited by JNCC Support Co (JNCC) to submit a tender for the supply of works or services required under the above project. If interested, you should download and carefully read the documents contained within the zip file

Tender to be submitted to TenderResponse@jncc.gov.uk

Project Aims JNCC wishes to commission a contract to undertake the analysis of water samples to be collected on the TC23031 offshore survey. There are up to 50 water sampling locations to be sampled on this survey, each consisting of suit of samples acquired at up to three depths, totalling a maximum of 150 sampling events. Option 1 Please provide quote for complete analysis of up to 150 nutrient samples and 150 THC samples and draft deliverables by March 8th 2024, any remedial action to be completed by 22nd March 2024. Option 2 Please provide a quote for the cost and breakdown of the number of samples that can be completed by March 8th, 2024, with expectation of completing remaining samples in following financial year by end of Q1 of financial year 24/25 (remedial action complete by 30th June 2024). In your quote, please detail the cost per sample completed in financial year 23/24 and the cost per sample completed in financial year 24/25 including an estimate of the completion timeframe. Option 3 Please provide a quote for the cost and breakdown of timings for completion of up to 150 nutrient samples and 150 THC samples by end of financial year 2024/2025. Project Background JNCC will be undertaking an offshore seabed survey to the Dolphin Head (DH hereafter) and North East of Farnes Deep (NEFD hereafter) HPMA's onboard the Marine Research Vessel (MRV) Tom Crean (survey code TC23031). The TC23031 survey will depart from Portland on 13th September 2023 and return to Aberdeen on approx. 10th October 2023. JNCC wishes to commission a contract to undertake nutrient and total hydrocarbon content (THC) analysis of 150 water samples collected on this survey. NEFD and DH lie in offshore waters to the east of Northumberland and south of Sussex respectively. For more information regarding NEFD and DH please see https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/north-east-of-farnes-deep-mpa-and-hpma/ and https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/dolphin-head-hpma/. Sampling will be conducted using a Niskin bottle rosette sampler onboard the R/V Tom Crean. Seawater will be collected from each depth/station and frozen in a 1L plastic bottle with approximately 5cm of headspace air for analysis of; ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate. An additional 1L glass bottle of water will be collected and frozen for analysis of total hydrocarbon content (THC).This will result in final sample numbers of up to 150 samples stored in plastic bottles for nutrient analysis, and 150 samples stored in glass bottles for THC Additional information: You are invited by JNCC Support Co (JNCC) to submit a tender for the supply of works or services required under the above project. If interested, you should download and carefully read the documents contained within the zip file.

An increased demand for marine space requires adequate management by marine planners to ensure that biodiversity targets are not compromised and to reduce conflict between sectors and marine users. Implementing cumulative effects assessment (CEA) at a strategic level gives marine planners a clearer picture of the compounded impacts of multiple sectors and recreational uses to help (a) adopt policies that keep marine development and use within environmental limits, and (b) guide project-level decisions accordingly. However, our current capacity to understand, evaluate and make decisions based on CEA is inadequate and it remains a persistent and fundamental challenge to more progressive marine plans and policies. Currently, there is no consistent approach adopted by marine planners but there have been numerous attempts at plan-level CEA. To determine the appropriate approach, it is proposed that it is time to take stock of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the different CEA approaches for use in marine plan development at different scales. The project is being run by a steering group made up of members including marine planning leads from multiple organisations and agencies across all/most administrations in the UK. This includes JNCC (project managers), NatureScot, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, The Marine Management Organisation, Marine Directorate of Scottish Government and Cefas. Project Aims: 1. To assess the relative merits of known cumulative assessment approaches, and their suitability for use at a strategic level during the preparation of marine plans. 2. To recommend a preferred approach to strategic level CEA for marine planners, including any method development that would further improve the approach. 3. To define data, evidence and research priorities to further refine CEA approach(es) for marine planning. Additional information: You are invited by JNCC Support Co (JNCC) to submit a tender for the supply of works or services required under the above project. If interested, you should download and carefully read the documents contained within the zip file

JNCC (along with Cefas) leads the marine pollution emergency response theme of OCPP and has been working in collaboration with the Sri Lankan Government providing environmental technical assistance with Marine Pollution Emergency Response to relevant stakeholders including training and equipment provision. This contract is focused on providing comprehensive marine pollution response training to key response stakeholders in Sri Lanka. This links in with the overall OCPP Emergency Marine Pollution Response aim which is 'That countries are equipped with the relevant tools, equipment, facilities and knowledge to be better prepared to respond to an emergency spill incident through the exchange of science and policy knowledge, collaboration and communication, protecting the marine environment and safeguarding the livelihoods of communities.' The stakeholders to receive the training will have mixed previous experience - some have completed ICS and IMO training, and some have not. Most will be Government officials with roles in the IMT and other response cells. This training will take place in Sri Lanka in mid-late February 2024, likely near the capital city of Colombo, so the contract should include the expected cost of travel, accommodation, and subsistence for the training provider staff. The lead Sri Lankan Government agency will provide a suitable classroom/ training centre and holds equipment suitable for training on shoreline deployment exercises including booms and skimmers. For more information on this project and how to apply, please refer to Zip attachment.

JNCC aims to support land-use decision-making by enabling land managers to identify the 'right thing to do in the right place.' Ultimately, the process will need to identify and compare suitable land-use interventions relevant to a given land parcel, which can deliver multiple environmental or ecosystem service benefits. The aim of this contract is to develop our understanding of the technical approaches used by existing land-use decision-making tools to spatially prioritise or optimise interventions to achieve multiple environmental benefits.

JNCC co-leads the Biodiversity loss theme of the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP), a UK government-led programme under the Blue Planet Fund. For the past year, OCPP has been supporting Vanuatu Government with priority areas, including data management within the Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC). The Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP) supports countries to: • strengthen marine science expertise • develop science-based policy and management tools • create educational resources for coastal communities This contract sits under the "Marine Biodiversity" strand of the Ocean Country Partnership Programme, which aims to support countries to develop the skills and expertise needed to establish well-managed and enforced marine protected areas, promoting healthy ecosystems with thriving biodiversity and fisheries that communities rely on for food and livelihoods. This contract is being delivered on behalf of the Vanuatu Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC). DEPC have requested support to develop a data management system to facilitate storage and access to data across the divisions within the department. Currently, data are stored on laptops/PCs with limited data sharing, cataloguing and retention. DEPC staff feel data accessibility within DEPC and between Government departments is limiting DEPC's ability to justify decisions with evidence. The need for an effective data management system has been identified as a key priority for DEPC, and there has been a prototype developed for the Biodiversity & Conservation division. However, a more holistic solution is required to facilitate data sharing between divisions, creating a harmonised and transparent workflow across the department. JNCC have undertaken user research to define and understand user requirements that will inform this development, discussing functionality with DEPC staff and technical infrastructure with the Office of Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO). A copy of the user research report is attached to this Invitation to Tender. Additional information: You are invited by JNCC Support Co (JNCC) to submit a tender for the supply of works or services required under the above project. If interested, you should download and carefully read the documents contained within the zip file.

The existing system Marine Recorder Online is a cloud-based multitenant marine benthic biodiversity data management system. It has been built as a redevelopment against the niche and use cases of the previous "Marine Recorder" desktop solution. It has been built from the ground up on modern Azure architecture and from a user-story-centric agile approach. It has not necessarily aimed to directly duplicate all functionality within the old application. The system is used by all of the UK Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs; JNCC, Natural England, NatureScot, Natural Resources Wales, DAERA), along with key marine NGOs, who provide high-quality marine benthic survey evidence for UK reporting. The online application provides the central collation, storage, querying and dissemination of spatial marine benthic biodiversity from a range of custodians, stored against a consistent data structure and metadata/vocabularies across all organisations to enable both effective active-data management, and cross-organisational interoperable data for large-scale data analyses regardless of the source. This contract aims to build upon the initial minimum viable product (MVP) release of the "Marine Recorder Online" multi-organisation cloud-based benthic data management (and analysis) solution. Currently under contract for initial development until March 2024, the initial MVP is expected to be released by 31st March 2024. It is therefore intended that this contract will provide ongoing improvements including implementing tweaks to existing functionality and developing new functionality, as prioritised and agreed by the Marine Recorder Steering Group, comprised of the public and third sector organisations that hold tenancies within the application (henceforth 'custodians'). Additional information: www.jncc.gov.uk

UK APAS is an online Air Pollution calculation tool that provides evidence to be used in planning decisions, environmental permitting, and local plans. It aims to provide an air quality modelling service that will offer a consistent approach by providing detailed modelling for ecosystem assessment and facilitates "in-combination" assessments across all key emission source types by storing development records in an archive. Ultimately, the tool provides better protection for nature by making information on habitats, their vulnerability and local emission levels clearer and more accessible. Over the last two years, the UK has been adapting the AERIUS tool for use here in the UK. The UK implementation, known as UK Air Pollution Assessment Service (UK APAS) is now in the final stage of initial development and needs to begin to establish a service phase. JNCC lead the UK creation of the Air Pollution Assessment Service, The multi-delivery team works with the software development team, technical experts, and user groups to ensure the new tool fits UK needs, and the service is fit for purpose. This tender process is to secure a technical support function for the live phase (due to start in September 2024) of the UK APAS service. The technical support function will provide ownership and ongoing development of the software code and working together with the Defra Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCOE) team, manage the updating and security within the production environments. The technical support function will also provide monthly reports to the JNCC product ownership team on the financial performance of the AWS environment, the status of all current tasks and the budget used so far to service the requests. Maintaining up-to-date data within the system will also be a key role, working together with the JNCC data management team as the providers of the data. Finally, and most importantly, is the consultancy role the technical support function will play a key part in the JNCC product ownership team, advising on the changes proposed to the product and the technical implications for deployment. Additional information: Please note tender document - Annex A has been updated and the return date extended to 10th May 2024

Background to Project JNCC co-leads the Marine Biodiversity theme of the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP), a UK government-led programme under the Blue Planet Programme. More information on the OCPP can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-planet-fund/ocean-country-partnership-programme-ocpp. Since 2021 the OCPP has been working in collaboration with the Government of Maldives providing technical assistance for MPAs. In 2023/24 the OCPP supported a review of shark diving practices at Fuvahmulah to inform the Maldives Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy (MCCEE) and Fuvahmulah City Council (FCC) of current management measures and best practice options. This contract focuses on the development of shark diving codes of conduct tailored to Fuvahmulah, based on best practices highlighted in the 'Review of shark diving practices at Fuvahmulah, Maldives' report, and the contractor and local stakeholder expertise and experience. Additionally, the contract seeks to scope requirements for the development of a shark dive guide certification training programme for local dives guides to undertake (noting this contract does not include the delivery of this training at this stage). If interested in this project potential bidders are invited to download the zip file and complete the acceptance form of our terms and conditions attached to the invitation to tender letter (ITT).

Invitation to tender documents for project reference C24-0619-1913 - Evidence review of harbour porpoise disturbance ranges in the context of the assessment and management of impulsive noise in Special Areas of Conservation. In 2020, JNCC, Natural England and DAERA, published guidance on noise management in harbour porpoise Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). This guidance recommends area-time thresholds within harbour porpoise SACs. A plan or project, individually or in combination, is considered to result in significant disturbance if it excludes harbour porpoises from more than: 1. 20% of the relevant area of the site in any given day, or 2. an average of 10% of the relevant area of the site over a season. This management approach ensures that within those particularly important habitats for harbour porpoise i.e. the SACs, disturbance is kept low so that animals can utilise and access those habitats in order for the sites to continue to contribute to the species Favourable Conservation Status. To assess the area of a site that may be affected by the noise disturbance, the guidance recommends the use of Effective Deterrence Ranges (EDRs), as being the area around an impulsive noise event from which harbour porpoises are disturbed/deterred, equivalent to the mean loss of habitat per animal (Tougaard et al. 2013). The EDRs in the guidance are not equivalent to 100% disturbance/deterrence in the associated area, instead they represent the area over which the bulk of the effect occurs. Most EDRs have been informed by matching a suite of generic activity categories (e.g., monopiles, pin-piles, seismic surveys) to the empirical evidence described in studies covering an activity with the most similar characteristics and sound levels, with values chosen on the precautionary end of the spectrum. To review evidence (empirical and modelled) on harbour porpoise disturbance ranges from impulsive noise sources and recommend updated Effective Deterrence Ranges for activities that use such sources. To meet the overall aims of this project the objectives are: 1. Review literature (grey and peer-reviewed) for empirical as well as modelled evidence of harbour porpoise disturbance in relation to impulsive noise for the noise sources of interest. 2. Meta-analysis of existing porpoise disturbance data with the aim of defining default EDRs in a more standardised way. 3. Recommend default EDRs for all activities of interest, listing respective underpinning evidence and limitations. 4. Recommend priorities for filling evidence gaps on harbour porpoise disturbance from noise sources of interest. You are invited by JNCC Support Co (JNCC) to submit a tender for the supply of works or services required under the above project. If interested, you should download and carefully read the documents contained within the zip file. Additional information: You are invited by JNCC Support Co (JNCC) to submit a tender for the supply of works or services required under the above project. If interested, you should download and carefully read the documents contained within the zip file.

2. Contract Summary JNCC wishes to commission a contract to undertake analysis of benthic DNA samples that will be collected during the COR0924 survey to a region offshore of St Kilda in Autumn 2024. Bidders are invited to provide a quote to include: • Cost of analysis per sample for up to 80 DNA samples; • Cost of reporting; and • Cost of storing actual samples for one year in case of future analyses dependent on funding. The contract, with any remedial actions following JNCC's quality checks, will need to be fully completed by March 2025. 3. Project Background and Aims Metaprobes have been increasingly used in recent years to passively collect DNA from marine habitats. They have the potential to provide a relatively cheap and minimal extra effort method of sampling DNA in marine ecosystems, complementing existing traditional survey methods. Metaprobes have been deployed in inshore waters but there is limited understanding of their use in offshore waters. JNCC aim to address this research gap by asking the overarching question: Can we detect benthic species offshore using eDNA collected with metaprobes? JNCC will be collaborating with Agri-Food and Bioscience Institute (AFBI) to undertake an offshore survey aboard the RV Corystes to a region offshore of St Kilda (survey code COR0924). The survey will depart Belfast Harbour on 26th September 2024 and return to the same port on 11th October 2024. During the survey, 36 sledge camera tows (Figure 1) will be conducted, providing an ideal opportunity to test collecting eDNA using metaprobes in the offshore benthic environment and to compare findings with benthic imagery. There is a risk that metaprobes may become clogged with sediment, impacting the ability to passively filter water and collect eDNA. This will be investigated through the study's experimental design by placing mesh around half of the metaprobes deployed. From outputs of the DNA analysis and camera sledge tows, JNCC aim to answer the following questions: 1. Does the species richness of benthic organisms detected vary between eDNA and imagery? 2. Does community composition of benthic organisms detected vary between eDNA and imagery? 3. Does species richness differ between metaprobes deployed with mesh and no mesh? 4. How many metaprobes are required to achieve a complete dataset? Additional information: You are invited by JNCC Support Co (JNCC) to submit a tender for the supply of works or services required under the above project. If interested, you should download and carefully read the documents contained within the zip file.

Project Background The platform replaces the old "Marine Recorder" desktop application, which is at end-of-life and no longer sustainable for business use. It is used by all UK SCNBs (JNCC, Natural England, NatureScot, Natural Resources Wales, DAERA) and key marine NGOs, which provide high-quality marine benthic survey evidence. The geospatial biodiversity and accessory data within the platform are curated under the custodianship of a closed list of custodian organisations, the only route for data into the system being via one of these organisations which will provide the overall responsibility of quality control and data entry. Data within the system is key to a wide variety of UK and international marine and conservation reporting objectives and forms the backbone of many policy decisions and further informative datasets across all countries in the UK. As such, it contains a reporting application, to provide key stakeholders the ability to query and extract final data in the system for their public task needs, and to their level of data access. Data entry to the system is currently via UI and spreadsheet import, with Restful JSON API planned for development shortly. Marine Recorder Online is multi-tenant, providing each custodian with their own domain for their data management application. They manage their own data according to their internal business needs and data release practices. All relevant final data are subsequently pooled in the reporting system to provide a full UK view of marine biodiversity data but with access defined by row-level permissions on the data to match the end user's access level. The system itself is administrated by a designated organisation, currently JNCC, in charge of managing the users, internal dictionaries, configuration updates, triaging new support tickets, and responding to Tier 1 support. The application currently receives hosting and support for Tier 2, 3, and 4 issues under contract, this ITT seeks to provide continued support and hosting for the application moving forward. The scope of the contract includes: • Application support, including Tier 2-4 support provision and software upgrades • Application hosting in a Microsoft Azure cloud environment • Hosting support including system maintenance and Tier 2-4 support provision • Legacy data migration • Offboarding and porting."

In September 2025, NOC and JNCC conducted a survey aboard the RSS Discovery (DY200) gathering evidence to monitor The Canyons MCZ and inform assessment of the condition of the designated features of the site. The Canyons MCZ is in the far south-west corner of the UK continental shelf and is unique within the context of England's largely shallow seas due to its depth, sea-bed topography and the coral features it contains. The designated features of The Canyons MCZ are listed in Table 1. More information on The Canyons MCZ can be found in the JNCC site information centre (https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/the-canyons-mpa/). Table 1 Designated features of The Canyons MCZ Protected Feature Feature Type Deep-sea bed Broadscale marine habitat Cold-water coral reefs Feature of Conservation Importance Coral gardens Feature of Conservation Importance Sea-pen and burrowing megafauna communities Feature of Conservation Importance Figure 1 Location of The Canyons MCZ in the context of Marine Protected Areas proximal to the site with existing multibeam data from previous surveys to The Canyons MCZ from the MESH 2007, JC125 (2015) and JC237 (2022) surveys, and EMODnet bathymetry. 3. Project Aims JNCC wishes to commission a contract to undertake the external quality assurance (eQA) analysis of seabed imagery (still images and video) collected on the DY200 survey via drop frame camera. More detailed metadata will be provided as well as information from logs and the survey report. There are also representative images from the DY200 survey shown in Appendix E. Table 2 Number of stills and hours of video data to be analysed from DY200. Data type Quantity Drop camera video 5 hours video Drop camera stills 300 images AUV images 100 images The following will be supplied to the successful contractor: • Access to BIIGLE project with all stills, video and label trees. o Please email the contacts for technical information (see page 1) if you would like to be added as a guest to the BIIGLE project to review the imagery. • Epibiota Quality Assurance Framework Proforma spreadsheets 4. Original Project Objectives To meet the overall aims of this project, the objectives for the original analysis were: 1. Analysis of stills and video taken with the drop-camera system 2. Provide substrate and taxonomic image reference collections for each substrate type and taxon identified from imagery. 3. Produce a final analysis report including, at a minimum, sections detailing the methodology, results , and details of all QA work undertaken with any remedial action deemed necessary. The report should be no longer than 10,000 words including all tables and appendices and be provided electronically via email as a Microsoft Word document. 4. Create a subset of stills annotated in a way suitable to act as training data for artificial intelligence. The contractor must: • Undertake the analysis as set out below and adhering to the NMBAQC Epibiota interpretation guidelines (Turner et al, 2016). Please note these guidelines are currently being updated by JNCC - the contractor must check with JNCC if the updated guidelines are available when the contract starts. • Use BIIGLE to annotate video and stills as described below. Alternative image annotation software may be used subject to agreement with the project officer. • Ensure that stills and video references used in analysis outputs are identical to those used in the naming of the original media to enable future reconciliation between data and media. If identical naming is not possible, a suitable alternative should be sought with JNCC. Some information, where specified, may be recorded directly into the proformas provided. The majority will be recorded first into BIIGLE and then used to populate the proforma. No analysis additional to what is described in this document is required. Any deviation from this methodology should be approved in writing by the project officer. 4.1. Analysis of video data from drop-camera Video should be analysed in BIIGLE using the label trees shown in Table 2. A high-level review should be conducted as described in section 2.1 of Turner et al (2016). Annotations can be added to videos as either tier 1 or tier 2 annotations depending on the label tree used. More details on the video annotation tiers and how they should be applied are provided in Appendix A. Video will be analysed to extract the following information (all information should be recorded using the provided BIIGLE label trees, unless specified otherwise): 1. Video should be segmented into areas of continuous broadscale seabed habitat type (detailed in step 2) greater than or equal to 5 m along transect distance; JNCC will provide positional information for this purpose. The segment label tree should be used to delineate these segments and labels from other trees should be attached to each segment using the "add label" tool in BIIGLE. 2. The Marine Habitat Classification of Britain and Ireland (v 22.04) will be used, and a new segment should be started if the habitat classification changes. 3. Each segment will be assigned image quality scores using labels from the following two label trees. Further analysis of video segments will be dependent on the image quality score. For example, if a segment is given a score of zero, no further analysis should be carried out for that segment. a. NMBAQC image quality, a summary of these scores is shown in Table 4 and described in more detail in section 2.1 of Turner et al (2016). b. JNCC image quality, a summary of these labels is shown in Table 74. 4. Identify evidence of anthropogenic impacts on the seabed: a. Use the litter label tree to record the presence of litter using the categories listed in Annex 5.1 of the Joint Research Centres Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas6. b. Use the Anthropogenic label tree to annotate trawl marks or anthropogenic impacts other than litter. This will not be a complete label tree and new labels may need to be added to the label tree. 5. Use the biotope label tree to assign biotopes, up to level 6 of the Marine habitat classification of Britain and Ireland hierarchy and in accordance with Parry (2019)7. A reference collection of representative images must be provided for each discreet habitat and biotope identified.   Table 3 Label trees for video annotation and the annotation type which should be used for each label tree Video analysis label tree Video annotation type Segment Tier 1 Marine habitat classification of Britain and Ireland (v 22.04) Tier 1 JNCC image quality Tier 1 NMBAQC image quality Tier 1 Biotope Tier 1 Coral Gardens (Henry and Roberts, 2014) (See Appendix D) Tier 1 Seapen and Burrowing Megafauna (please note the definition of this FOCI currently being updated by JNCC - see Appendix B) Tier 1 Deep Sea Sponge Aggregations (Henry and Roberts, 2014) Tier 1 Coral Reef (if present) Tier 1 Burrows Tier 1 Litter Tier 2 Anthropogenic Tier 2 Table 4 Summary of NMBAQC image quality categories (Turner et al., 2016) Table 5 JNCC image quality categories • Imagery quality level • Description • Fauna • Most fauna can be identified (e.g. including smaller taxa such as brittlestars etc.) • Conspicuous fauna • Large and conspicuous fauna can be identified (e.g. sponges, soft corals etc.) • Substrate • The substrate type can be identified, but the fauna cannot (e.g. the water column is obscured / the camera is too high off the seabed) • Zero • No visibility of the seabed, substrate cannot be identified. 4.2. Analysis of stills data from drop-camera Stills should be analysed in BIIGLE using the label trees shown in Table 5. Annotations should be added to stills as either tier 1 or tier 2 labels depending on the label tree used. Some tier 1 labels may be added directly into the proforma (see below). More details on the still annotation types and how they should be applied are provided in Appendix A. Table 6 Label trees for stills annotation and the annotation type which should be used for each label tree Stills analysis label tree Stills annotation type NMBAQC image quality Tier 1 JNCC image quality Tier 1 Substrate Tier 1 Biota Tier 2 Laser points Tier 2 Litter Tier 2 Anthropogenic Tier 2 Stills will be analysed to extract the following information: 1. Each still will be assigned image quality scores using labels from the following two label trees. Further analysis of the still image will be dependent on the image quality score. For example, if a still image is given a score of 'very poor' and 'substrate', no taxonomic identification should be carried out for that still image. a. NMBAQC image quality, a summary of these scores is shown in Table 3 and described in more detail in section 2.1 of Turner et al 2016. b. JNCC image quality, a summary of these labels is shown in Table 74. 2. Identification and enumeration of epifauna, JNCC will provide a reference collection built from images previously taken in these sites. Annotations made using the Biota label tree. For each still image being analysed, identify, and quantify all8: a. Solitary and/or erect epifaunal species present. b. Bioturbation traces using counts (achieved by using the point annotation tool within BIIGLE). c. Colonial and/or encrusting epifaunal species present as far as possible (using percentage cover (achieved by using the polygon, magic wand, or brush tools within BIIGLE). 3. Record substrate type and Faunal Turf cover to nearest 10% directly to proforma. 4. Use laser points label tree to annotate lasers and calculate image area in BIIGLE. Analysts are not to use the automated laser detection tool in BIIGLE. 5. Identify evidence of anthropogenic impacts on the seabed: a. Use the litter label tree to record the presence of litter using the categories listed in Annex 5.1 of the Joint Research Centres  

This contract is focused on the delivery of accredited Hazardous and Noxious Substance (HNS) training. The training course needs to be run twice, both times in central command (Male, the Maldives) The project is linked under the Indian Ocean Directorate of the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO). Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) are an emerging threat to the environment and coastal communities of the Maldives; with the expansion of shipping routes and more extreme weather events, risks exist which can cause significant impacts and damage to the environment and the livelihoods of the coastal communities who rely on it. Maldives are particularly at risk of such impacts due to their disparate geography, limited response resources and reliance on their marine environment for income such as tourism and food security. We are looking to initiate procurement and delivery of targeted HNS training in early 2026 for key Maldivian stakeholders including coastguard and environment authorities. This training should build on and be made bespoke to the wider HNS and oil National Contingency Plan by linking to the new policy documents and using the training as an opportunity to test and where possible improve them. This initiative will strengthen national preparedness and technical capacity to respond effectively to HNS incidents, reducing the risk of long-term environmental degradation and safeguarding coastal livelihoods. By embedding practical skills within the framework of the updated National Contingency Plan, the training will ensure that policy commitments translate into operational readiness.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the statutory adviser to the UK Government and devolved administrations on UK and international nature conservation Our role is to provide scientific evidence, information, and advice to inform decisions to protect the natural environment. Our specific role is to work on nature conservation issues that affect the UK as a whole and internationally, by: • advising Government on the development and implementation of policies for, or affecting, nature conservation in the UK and internationally; • providing advice and disseminating knowledge on nature conservation issues affecting the UK and internationally; • establishing common standards throughout the UK for nature conservation, including monitoring, research, and the analysis of results; and • commissioning or supporting research which it deems relevant to these functions. Background to JNCC can be found on JNCC's website at: https://jncc.gov.uk/about-jncc/ 2. Project Aims The overall aim is to produce a proof-of-concept test on how UK Biodiversity Indicators can be projected into the future to help inform conservation decision-making. The test will include making projections. These are not intended for operational use initially, but will aim to describe the steps, demonstrate potential outputs, and assess the feasibility of more routine application. The scope of the work at present is UK terrestrial biodiversity. 3. Project Background The UK regularly publishes a range of biodiversity indicators (https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-biodiversity-indicators-2024/). These UK Biodiversity Indicators (UKBI) are used to track and report progress against international commitments made through the Global Biodiversity Framework. The indicators are wide-ranging, and encompass pressures (e.g. pollution), policy and management interventions (e.g. sustainable forestry), environmental outcomes (e.g. species population trends), evidence about biodiversity, and public interest and support for conservation. Some of the UKBIs are also used/adapted by individual UK countries, and are an important tool for wider communication of how biodiversity is changing. The analysis of current trends will continue to be essential. However, there is increasing recognition of the need for evidence about how the environment could change in future. There are several aspects to this, including: • Understanding the likely 'Business-as-Usual' future trajectory for pressures and interventions • Understanding impacts from individual policy options and decisions • Investigating the interaction between multiple policies, and the likely net outcomes under different assumptions about implementation • Understanding possible future changes in environmental pressures and the options for management and mitigation This evidence can enable more informed discussions on the balance of policies and how investment is allocated. It can also identify risks and opportunities, and provide a communication tool to raise awareness of possible future environmental trajectories (as used in broadly similar ways e.g. in relation to climate), rather than only focusing on past trends. Furthermore, projecting the UK Biodiversity Indicators gives a direct link with how the UK assesses progress on national and international environmental objectives. Being able to project these indicators and test responses to evolving policy priorities and wider socioeconomic changes would be a powerful tool to inform environmental decision-making. As such, JNCC are particularly interested in flexible and re-usable approaches that combine scenarios of potential environmental changes with models that project what effect these changes have on UKBIs. Related JNCC-supported work This project will contribute to a longer-term JNCC ambition to support the development and implementation of biodiversity projections to inform conservation decision-making, through the Biodiversity Pathways project (https://jncc.gov.uk/news/biodiversity-pathways-project-launched/). The project described in this invitation to tender is a standalone piece and does not rely on any previous work 4. Project Objectives To meet the overall Project Aims (Section 2), the objectives are: 1) Agree at least one suitable scenario for projections. This can be existing or newly produced, but must involve some change in the key drivers that affect selected UK Biodiversity Indicators (i.e. the scenario cannot be 'no change from the current position'). 2) Develop, document, and pilot a re-usable modelling approach to project selected UK Biodiversity Indicators under the scenario(s) for a 20-30 year period. We do not expect this to be suitable for using operationally without further testing, but it should be sufficiently developed to show the potential and to enable Objective 3. 3) Evaluate strengths, limitations, and transferability of the resulting methods and projections, to inform next steps in developing this approach. 5. Project Objectives: Detailed Tasks 1) Agree at least one suitable scenario for projections We do not expect an extensive scenario development process - the main purpose of this contract is to develop and test modelling methods suitable for projecting UK Biodiversity Indicators. As such, the scenario(s) used should identify key direct drivers of changes in the selected indicators and set reasonably plausible values for these. However, scenarios would not need to consider underlying policy or socioeconomic shifts necessary to affect the driver values in this way. Existing scenario(s) can be used if relevant. The UK Biodiversity Indicators used must be suitable for projection for the UK and ideally for individual UK countries. We are particularly interested in the indicators listed below, and would like to include at least one indicator from Group 1 (species trends) and at least one indicator from Group 2 (pressures, habitat condition). Note that several of these indicators include multiple components - ideally, each component would be projected though if this does not add much new information or is impractical with the time/evidence available then the focus can be narrowed. Where bidders are aware of overlap with previous or ongoing work on biodiversity projections, this relationship should be explained with a description of how proposals build on rather than duplicate other work. GROUP 1: UK Biodiversity Indicators relating to species trends. Priority to include projections for at least one indicator from the following list Status of threatened species Conservation status of UK species of European importance Priority species abundance Trends in the relative abundance of priority species Priority species distribution Trends in distribution of UK priority species Birds of the wider countryside and at sea Trends in abundance of commoner native birds Insects of the wider countryside (butterflies) Trends in abundance of resident butterfly species Plants of the wider countryside Change in abundance of plant species in four UK broad habitat types Mammals of the wider countryside (bats) Changes in relative abundance of GB breeding bat species Status of pollinating insects Changes in the distribution of bees and hoverflies GROUP 2: UK Biodiversity Indicators of pressures and habitat condition. Priority to include projections for at least one indicator from the following list Air pollution Area affected by acidification and area affected by excess nitrogen Invasive species Number of invasive non-native species established Changes in the extent of invasive non-native species Protected areas Changes in the extent and condition of Protected Areas Status of threatened habitats Conservation status of UK habitats of European importance 2) Develop, document, and pilot a re-usable modelling approach to project indicators under the chosen scenario(s), for a 20-30 year period There is no requirement to use a specific modelling approach. However, the methods (including code) must be clearly and transparently described in sufficient detail to enable re-use and external evaluation. Consideration should also be given to how the approach could be generalised to other indicators (see Task 3, below). The choice of method should be justified as suitable for projecting indicators for a 20-30 year period, and ideally for individual UK countries. Projections should be accompanied by an explanation of the approach to validating outputs, and descriptions of assumptions and uncertainties. We recognise that projections can be complex to produce, and we do not expect the methods to be suitable for using operationally without further testing. However, the content should be sufficiently developed to show the potential and to enable Objective 3. 3) Evaluate strengths, limitations, and transferability of the resulting methods and projections, to inform next steps in developing this approach Objective evaluation of strengths and limitations of the projections is essential to inform future work. The detail of this will depend on the outcomes, but is likely to include: i) Would the methods be feasible to apply operationally, e.g. on a regular basis and/or with new scenarios or policy questions? If yes, what is required to achieve that? ii) Could the methods be extended to other UK Biodiversity Indicators? If yes, which indicators and what would be required to achieve that? iii) What additional evidence would help improve the projections and/or enable better validation of outputs? iv) Are there additional indicators not currently within (or in-development for) the UKBI that would be informative for conservation and amenable to scenarios and modelling?

1. Joint Nature Conservation Committee The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the statutory adviser to the UK Government and devolved administrations on UK and international nature conservation Our role is to provide scientific evidence, information, and advice to inform decisions to protect the natural environment. Our specific role is to work on nature conservation issues that affect the UK as a whole and internationally, by: • advising Government on the development and implementation of policies for, or affecting, nature conservation in the UK and internationally; • providing advice and disseminating knowledge on nature conservation issues affecting the UK and internationally; • establishing common standards throughout the UK for nature conservation, including monitoring, research, and the analysis of results; and • commissioning or supporting research which it deems relevant to these functions. Background to JNCC can be found on JNCC's website at: https://jncc.gov.uk/about-jncc/ 2. Project Aims To develop conceptual models describing the variables affecting wildfire risk, flood risk, water quality and/or water provisioning in and downstream from peatland. 3. Project Background When in good condition, peatlands are important for delivering a wide range of benefits to society, such as carbon storage and reduced emissions, wildfire regulation, flood regulation, water quality regulation, and water provision - as well as many cultural and supporting services, such as preservation of archaeology, outdoor recreation, and habitat provision. Whilst a national indicator of peatland carbon balance already exists, within the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, similar national scale data are not currently available for the other benefits that peatlands provide. In order to ultimately reach the stage of developing additional indicators focused on societal outcomes, the first step is to gain a thorough understanding from the literature of the known variables affecting that benefit and develop a conceptual model - as specified within this invitation to tender. The eventual existence of such indicators would allow for: • more effective business cases to be made by those seeking funding for peatland conservation and restoration activities • more informed decisions to be made by funders, and stronger justification for decisions they make around public spending • a clear and relatable way to communicate the importance of peat to non-specialists, such as ministers and the general public • tracking of progress through time, for example against each of the four UK countries' Peatland Strategies • policymakers to design more effective policies through an improved understanding of the pressures and drivers that are affecting the indicator results • depending on the format of the final model, potentially spatial prioritisation, prediction of the output of any given policy, and an understanding of any trade-offs and potential for perverse incentives from a given policy. Stakeholder engagement across the four UK countries has identified a need for a UK peatland indicator framework, and several potential indicators were selected as priorities - four of which (wildfire risk, flood risk, water quality, and water provisioning) JNCC wish to let an initial research phase on. JNCC have already undertaken a short scoping exercise on the feasibility of a range of potential peatland indicators, the outputs of which will be shared with the successful contractor as a starting point. For the purposes of this project, we use the term 'indicator' in its broadest sense; anything that gives an indicative metric of change through time, whether that is measured or modelled, and whether that is related to a driver, a pressure, a state, an impact or a response; with modelled impact indicators being the specific direction within this that we wish to take forward. We are however focusing on indicators relevant to a national scale - whether producing a national total or a national map - rather than indicators that are designed to be used in an individual project on a very small scale, for example to determine whether restoration actions of an individual project have been successful. 4. Project Objectives To meet the overall aims of this project (Section 2), the objectives are: 1. To undertake an evidence review identifying the factors affecting peatland's delivery of the following societal outcomes. We welcome bids to develop a minimum of one and a maximum of all four outcomes, depending on the expertise of the bidder. Please note JNCC reserves the right to accept all or part of your bid: o Wildfire risk o Flood risk o Water quality o Water provision 2. To develop a conceptual model (a graphical representation of a system, identifying components of the system and the relationships between them) based on the literature review findings 3. To note any relevant available data that the contractor comes across whilst undertaking the other two objectives 5. Project Objectives: Detailed Tasks 1. Evidence review • Each review should answer one of the following key questions: o Which variables (pressures, management actions, condition metrics, geographic or climatic features, etc) affect wildfire risk in UK peatland environments? What is their relationship (e.g. positive/negative, strong/weak, linear/complex) with wildfire risk in UK peatland environments? o Which variables (pressures, management actions, condition metrics, geographic or climatic features, etc) affect flood risk downstream from UK peatland environments? What is their relationship (e.g. positive/negative, strong/weak, linear/complex) with downstream flood risk? o Which variables (pressures, management actions, condition metrics, geographic or climatic features, etc) affect water quality downstream from UK peatland environments? What is their relationship (e.g. positive/negative, strong/weak, linear/complex) with downstream water quality? Water quality includes the presence of discolouration, the presence of a range of specific chemical pollutants (e.g. nitrates and sulphates) and/or water treatment costs to remove those of relevance to human health. o Which variables (pressures, management actions, condition metrics, geographic or climatic features, etc) affect water provisioning capabilities downstream from UK peatland environments? What is their relationship (e.g. positive/negative, strong/weak, linear/complex) with water provision capabilities? • The search strategy and information to be recorded from each paper should be proposed to JNCC at the start-up meeting, for input and agreement, before work commences • Where possible, the review methodology should align with the 'quick scoping review' and/or 'rapid evidence review' guidance provided at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-production-of-quick-scoping-reviews-and-rapid-evidence-assessments • Where any quantitative evidence about relationships between variables, interactions between variables, and the relative weighting of variables are found, this information should be recorded (e.g. the benefit increases linearly with variable x; or variable a only effects the benefit when variable b is in a particular state) • The list of papers screened, included/excluded, and raw notes from each paper reviewed should be shared as an output • In addition, findings should be written up into a short summary that could be included within a technical report at a later date, if an indicator based on this information is subsequently developed • Where evidence gaps are noted (e.g. 'it was not possible to conclude on x from the studies available'), these should be noted within the summary • Recent JNCC work assessing the impacts of peatland restoration actions on ecosystem service delivery will be shared with the successful contractor for them to build on . If undertaking the wildfire review, the contractor may also wish to build on this previous JNCC project predicting wildfire risk in the Brecon Beacons: https://hub.jncc.gov.uk/assets/7691fb4a-b77a-4f8e-8660-a06b567ba345 2. Conceptual model • By conceptual model, we mean a flowchart depicting key factors of relevance to the societal benefit in question, including peatland-relevant pressures, management actions, condition metrics, geographic or climatic features, and intermediate steps in the system • This task will synthesise the findings from the literature review into a similar diagram • The aim is not for an entirely complete systems map, but to identify the variables likely to be most significant. The successful contractor will involve the JNCC steering group in the decision-making process behind inclusion/exclusion of each variable • The purpose of this is to act as a framework for potential subsequent quantitative model development in future financial years 3. Data availability Whilst we do not expect the contractor to undertake a full data review of sources that could be used as input data for each variable within the conceptual model in any potential subsequent modelling, we do ask the contractor to make a note of any data that may be relevant for this purpose which they come across anyway as part of their evidence review. • Ideally, these will be open access data sources. Where open access data are not available, licensed datasets can be noted alongside their relevant licensing information • Ideally, these will be spatial data, with the geographic resolution noted. Where spatial data are not available, non-spatial data can be noted • Ideally, these will be UK in scale. Where only smaller geographic scales are available, these can be included instead, with the area that they do cover noted •

JNCC wishes to commission a contract to undertake the analysis of seabed imagery (still images and video) collected on the 0924S survey from a drop-frame camera. Seabed imagery will be analysed using the image and video annotation software BIIGLE . During 0924S, imagery data was collected for MPA monitoring purposes. The total number of sampled drop-camera stations was 80; circa 38 hours of high-definition video. Due to technical difficulties, the camera had to be restarted during 4 transects, resulting in multiple videos for these transects, giving a total of 85 videos to be analysed. Videos from one transect should be analysed together. A total of 3,530 still images were collected across 79 of the drop-camera stations. More detailed metadata will be provided including information from logs and the survey report. Throughout the tender process, guest access to the 2024 BIIGLE project will be provided to allow review of the available images. The successful contractor will be provided with access to the 2024 BIIGLE project and the annotated 2018 WTR seabed imagery to aid with identification. Please note that experience in the identification of deep-sea taxa is required to complete this contract. The bid submission should clearly state which of the following options are being bid for, please provide a quote for either option 1, 2 or 3: Option 1 Video analysis, please provide a quote for the cost and breakdown per video hour Option 2 Stills analysis, please provide a quote for the cost and breakdown of the number of stills Option 3 Video analysis and stills analysis, please provide a quote for complete analysis of all imagery (video and stills), breaking down the costs as per options 1 and 2. 3. Project Background JNCC and the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government (MD) conducted a survey aboard MRV Scotia (0924S) in 2024 to gather evidence to monitor Wyville Thomson Ridge Special Area of Conservation (WTR) (Figure 1) and inform assessment of the extent and condition of the designated features of the site. A survey of WTR was conducted in 2017/18, but the 0924S survey will form the first monitoring point (T0) in the time series at WTR. WTR is located to the northwest of mainland Scotland at the northern end of the Rockall Trough, with the closest land approximately 77 km away at Rona, Scotland. The site has an area of 1,740 km2 and a depth range of 350 m to 1000 m. Table 1. Designated features of Wyville Thomson Ridge SAC. The UK has a greater range and extent of rocky reefs than biogenic reefs, and rocky reefs are extremely variable in their structure and in the communities they support (Brown et al. 1997). They range from vertical rock walls to horizontal ledges, sloping or flat bed rock, broken rock, boulder fields, and aggregations of cobbles. A variety of invertebrates can inhabit rocky reefs, including sponges, corals, and sea squirts, which attach to the rock surface. Mobile species, such as fish, lobsters and crustaceans, may also use rocky reefs for shelter. Both types of rocky reefs - bedrock reefs and stony reefs - are protected features within WTR. Bedrock reef Bedrock reef occurs where the bedrock that underlies surface sediments on the seafloor arises from the surrounding seabed, creating a habitat that is colonised by many different marine animals and plants. Bedrock is consolidated rock and can be composed of most rock types (granite, limestone, sandstone etc.). Stony reef Stony reef occurs where 10% or more of the seabed substratum are composed of particles greater than 64 mm across, i.e. cobbles and boulders (European Commission 2013a). The remaining supporting 'matrix' could be of smaller sized material. The reef may be consistent in its coverage or it may form patches with intervening areas of finer sediment. Epifaunal species dominate biological cover. Stony reef should be topographically distinct from the surrounding sea floor with a minimum area of 25 m2 (this also applies to the total area of a patchy reef) (Irving, 2009). Iceberg ploughmarks can be considered as a special type of stony reef. They occur along the UK continental shelf edge off northern and western Scotland, including in WTR (Irving 2009). Iceberg 'ploughmarks' consist of ridges of boulders, cobbles and gravel where finer sediments have been winnowed away by high energy currents at the site, interspersed with finer sediment troughs up to 5 -10 m deep (Masson et al., 2000). They are thought to have been formed by the ploughing movement of icebergs through the seabed at the end of the last ice age. The iceberg ploughmarks in WTR are stable and consolidated and have been classified as stony reef (Irving 2009). Although the Irving (2009) stony reef criteria can be applied in WTR, as iceberg ploughmark Annex I Reef is a special case of Annex I stony reef, regardless of the substrate present, the area identified as iceberg ploughmarks is considered to be Annex I Reef. The patchy nature of stony substrate within the wider iceberg ploughmark area results in a small-scale mosaic of stony and non-stony substrate of the seabed. Hence, small scale variation in the presence or absence of stony reef substratum can occur within the wider Annex I Reef area. Biogenic reef Biogenic reefs are made up of hard matter, formed by animals themselves. The reef structure can be composed of the reef-building organism (including its tubes or shells), or it may also be composed of sediments, stones and shells that the organism has bond together. In the deep sea, the main species that form biogenic reefs include cold-water corals (e.g. Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora oculata and Solenosmilia variabilis). Biogenic reefs can provide complex habitats for species assemblages, such as for sponges, bryozoans, and sea squirts. WTR 2024 Survey (0924S) The 0924S survey departed from Aberdeen on the 23rd of July 2024 and returned to Aberdeen on the 12th of August 2024. Data from this survey will form the first time point (T0) of a monitoring series. The monitoring aims and objectives of survey 0924S relating to seabed imagery are: 1. Collect evidence to inform type one (sentinel) monitoring of the structure and function of Annex I Reef at WTR SAC. 2. Collect evidence to inform the physical extent and distribution of the Annex I Reef within WTR SAC. Imagery was collected with a drop-frame camera (DC) system, towed by the vessel at a target speed of 0.5 knots and a target altitude of 1 m. The following instruments were mounted on the drop-frame camera: • Kongsberg OE 14-408 digital stills camera (10 MP) mounted in a planar (downwards facing) orientation • High definition SubC 1 Alpha video camera in a planar orientation • Four-point (green) laser-scaling with the bottom two set to 67 mm spacing • Additionally: four SEALED lamps, Valeport CTD, Ultra-short Baseline (USBL) acoustic positioning beacon Sampling during the 0924S survey was stratified by zones and depth. Seven zones were selected for the purposes of sampling design, with seven depth contours chosen from within these zones (Figure 2). Video and stills imagery were collected from 80 stations across the seven depth bands. The 300, 400, 450 and 800 m depth bands were prioritised and all stations at these depths, across all zones, were sampled. It was not possible to sample the 500, 600 and 700 m depth bands in all zones during the survey (Figure 3). At each station, the camera tow was continued until a suitable number of images had been collected. As a result, the length of video tows varies. In total, 38 hours and 13 minutes of video and 3,530 still images will be analysed (Table 2). All imagery will be made available via a BIIGLE project. Access to the imagery via the BIIGLE project can be provided on request to aid in the tendering process (see contacts for technical information on page 1) and more detailed metadata will be provided to the successful contractor following contract award. The following will be provided to the successful contractor: 1. Access to the 2024 BIIGLE project with all stills, videos and label trees. 2. Associated metadata including USBL positions 3. 2024 WTR cruise report 4. Epibiota Quality Assurance Framework Proforma spreadsheets 5. Access to the 2017/18 WTR annotation catalogue in BIIGLE 4. Project Objectives JNCC wishes to commission a contract to undertake the analysis of seabed imagery including video and still imagery from the 0924S survey as set out in the sections below. Analysis of video should be completed first as a priority. The successful contractor will: • Undertake the analysis as set out below, adhering to the NMBAQC Epibiota interpretation guidelines (Turner et al., 2016). • Use BIIGLE to annotate video and still images as described below. Alternative image annotation software may be used subject to agreement with the project officer. • Ensure that still images and video references used in analysis outputs are identical to those used in the naming of the original media to enable future reconciliation between data and media. If identical naming is not possible, a suitable alternative should be sought with JNCC. • Produce a final analysis report including, at a minimum, sections detailing the methodology, results including results of Annex I Stony Reef analysis, and details of all QA work undertaken with any remedial action deemed necessary. The report should be no longer than 15,000 words including all tables and appendices and be provided electronically via email as a Microsoft Word document. • Provide substrate and taxonomic image reference collections for each substrate type and taxon identified from imagery. • (Costed extra) Create a subset of still images annotated in a way suitable to act as training data for artificial intelligence model training as described below

The primary aim is to conduct a comprehensive review and update of the existing Deep-Sea Sponge Aggregation (DSSA) guidance (Henry & Roberts, 2014) to create a framework that is clear, consistent, and usable for analysts and industry. The new guidance must achieve standardisation and alignment with international definitions set by OSPAR and ICES, while concurrently establishing a robust UK interpretation that effectively supports national reporting, data sharing, and data analysis.

Project Aims • Assess whether there has been ecological recovery at Skipwith Common SAC following the closure of nearby coal-fired power stations, by monitoring air quality, vegetation, and soil parameters. • Replicate and enhance previous surveys (from 2011 and 2014) to detect changes in atmospheric pollutants (NH₃, SO₂, NOₓ), vegetation communities, and soil chemistry. • Develop robust, repeatable monitoring methods to track recovery indicators and provide a platform for future long-term monitoring. • Generate evidence to inform site management and national policy and provide recommendations for extending recovery assessments to other sites. Project Background The Large Plant Combustion Directive (LPCD), introduced by the European Union, aimed to reduce air pollution from large combustion plants by setting limits on emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), and particulate matter. As part of compliance, UK power stations were required to monitor ecological impacts at nearby Natura 2000 sites. UKCEH conducted a four-year monitoring programme (2011-2015) across seven sites, including Skipwith Common in North Yorkshire, which was notably affected by emissions from three nearby coal-fired power stations: Drax, Eggborough, and Ferrybridge. See figure1. Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve (NNR) spans 270 hectares was selected for its representative heathland vegetation, minimal land management, and proximity to existing monitoring infrastructure. The original study involved air quality measurements, vegetation surveys, and soil analyses. With the closure of the three power stations and reduced pollution levels suggested by regional data, this contract seeks to revisit the site to assess signs of ecological recovery. This includes evaluating changes in air quality, vegetation composition, and soil chemistry, building on the baseline data collected over a decade ago. Figure 1: Location of Skipwith Common (red point) and the three former coal-powered power stations (yellow points) This contract forms part of the Air Pollution Recovery Indicators programme of work. Project Objectives To meet the overall aims of this project (Section 0), the objectives are: To assess whether Skipwith Common SAC shows signs of ecological recovery from air pollution following the closure of nearby coal-fired power stations, by replicating and enhancing previous air quality, vegetation, and soil monitoring surveys. Project Objectives: Detailed Tasks Contractors are welcome to suggest their own sample placements, numbers and analysis. The below is just a suggestion based on previous work. • 12 months of air quality, vegetation, and soil monitoring at Skipwith Common SAC to detect signs of ecological recovery following the closure of nearby power stations. I. This could include monitoring of concentrations of NH₃, SO₂, and NOₓ (at least 10 locations) II. Utilise existing monitoring and data where possible e.g. wet deposition. III. Re-survey the original 50 quadrats (2x2 m) within the 1-hectare area using the same methodology as in 2011 and 2014 and record species presence and abundance to detect changes since 2014. IV. Estimate of soil chemistry across the site e.g. pH, nutrients and base cations V. Set up monthly soil solution sampling at 2 depths e.g. 15cm and 30cm and analyse for acid anions, base cations, pH, DOC, ammonium, phosphate, and conductivity. • Deploy a multi-parameter weather sensor to measure temperature, humidity, wind speed/direction, and pressure. • Install a solar radiation sensor to support dry deposition modelling. • Replicate and enhance previous surveys to enable direct comparison of current and past air pollution and ecological data. Compare 2025 findings with 2011 and 2014 data. • Develop and validate robust indicators and methodologies for tracking recovery from air pollution in heathland habitats. • Provide evidence and recommendations to inform site management, national policy, and potential extension of monitoring to other sites Potential Follow-On Work Bidders should be aware that there is the potential for the successful bidder to be requested by JNCC to undertake additional work on this contract into the financial year 2026/27. This could be for follow on work at other Energy Supply Industry sites (ESI's) subject to funding post March 2026. Please note however that the potential for additional work to be undertaken is subject to a continuing need, availability of funds and satisfactory contractor performance. For the avoidance of doubt, no guarantee can be given that you will be asked to undertake the potential additional work outlined within this SoW document. Bidders are not asked to provide detailed project plans for these follow-on aspects at this stage. Outputs • A detailed report comparing current (2025) air quality, vegetation, and soil data with baseline surveys from 2011 and 2014. • Assessment of ecological recovery indicators and identification of any changes in atmospheric pollutant levels and ecosystem health. • Recommendations and lessons learned for extending similar monitoring and recovery assessments to other sites. • Data and evidence to inform site management, policy decisions, and future monitoring strategies. Product Specification JNCC is committed to making its publicly available resources and documents accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Making material accessible means making sure it can be used by as many people as possible. This includes those with:  impaired vision  motor difficulties  cognitive impairments or learning disabilities  deafness or impaired hearing The outputs and material that JNCC publishes should be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. To meet this standard, all reports and other documentation which are to be made publicly available must adhere to JNCC's house-style (to be provided) and be produced using a JNCC template (to be provided), unless otherwise stated. (Project managers to note - there are two templates, please decide which is most appropriate, either the 'standard' template rather than the JNCC report template). All reports (draft and final) should be provided electronically via email both as a Microsoft Word document and an Adobe PDF. Copies of documentation associated with case studies should be provided in electronic format with an associated reference catalogue. For any other outputs or products which are to be made publicly available through JNCC, evidence regarding how the accessibility standard will be reached should be included. (Note for author if research project/contract: see EQA Policy Appendix 4 (Communicating Evidence Quality). Ensure that data management and storage requirements are stipulated taking into account relevant policy for data access. See https://jncc.gov.uk/about- jncc/corporate-information/evidence-quality-assurance/ Dissemination (delete if non-applicable) The products/outputs produced under this contract will be a JNCC product and shall not be published or disseminated without the written permission of JNCC. Outputs may at some point be published on the JNCC website and all material supplied as part of this contract shall remain copyright of JNCC. The findings from this contract will also be made available to staff within JNCC, the UK country nature conservation bodies (name them), Defra and (list other parties) Timescale Provisional dates for delivery of the contract outputs are set out below. Exact dates are to be agreed at the start-up meeting based on Contractor and JNCC staff availability. Output Provisional Date Start-up meeting (UK) December 2025 (Exact date TBC) Progress updates Regular meetings to be agreed on project start up Draft/progress report March 2026 Final report with findings Post March 2026 Presentation of the results to stakeholders Post March 2026