UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

The Terrestrial Surveillance Development and Analysis (TSDA) project aims to deliver cross-scheme development and analysis functions across a wide range of current and future terrestrial (including freshwater) biodiversity surveillance schemes in the UK. Work undertaken will align to a five-year strategy developed by the successful tenderer(s) and JNCC working together in partnership, aiming to improve outcomes, quality of analytical products, and utility of surveillance schemes (including wider biological recording) through development, implementation and evaluation of solutions. This is in recognition that most schemes face common problems, such as ensuring adequate geographic coverage, developing effective data management systems, and data interpretation. Importantly, cross-scheme analytical products are required in order to provide strong evidence-based advice to policymakers regarding the status of biodiversity and impacts of pressures and interventions.

The UK's Overseas Territories (UKOT's) are highly dependent on the natural environment for their economic and social wellbeing. They are also reliant on limited infrastructure. In the Caribbean in particular, this infrastructure, and human life, are vulnerable to both natural and anthropogenic hazards. The natural environment is itself susceptible to damage from human activities - resulting in loss of value to the economy and reducing its ability to protect assets and human well-being. Building upon work to date, carried out under Joint Nature Conservation Committee's (JNCC) Natural Capital in the Overseas Territories programme, and the current Conflict, Stability & Security Fund (CSSF) Disaster Resilience Project and Implementing Coral Reef Action Plans Project aim to: develop and disseminate targeted messages and communications materials to inform key stakeholders of: i. the role and value of the natural environment in providing environmental resilience. ii. the pressures upon the natural environment; and iii. the role stakeholders can play in protecting the natural environment. Outputs This project aims to develop the necessary graphics to facilitate education and outreach activities which will be executed in six (6) UKOTs within the Caribbean, namely within Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands (CI), Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). Any products or outputs submitted to JNCC [for publication] should adhere to JNCC's house-style and should be produced in an accessible format (see product specification for more information). 1) A vector drawing infographic which comprises all of the key messages from the CSSF project including: a. Delivery of editable files (Photoshop, InDesign or if using another format, this must be agreed with JNCC before delivery); b. Delivery of final products (JPEGs, GIFs, or PDFs) 2) The design and graphics for an A2-sized poster: a. Delivery of editable files (Photoshop, InDesign or if using another format, this must be agreed with JNCC before delivery); b. Delivery of final products (JPEGs, GIFs, or PDFs) 3) A digital CSSF trifold project pamphlet: a. Delivery of editable files (Photoshop, InDesign or if using another format, this must be agreed with JNCC before delivery); b. Delivery of final products (JPEGs, GIFs, or PDFs)

This contract sits under the "Biodiversity Loss" strand of the Ocean Country Partnership Programme, which aims to: • Increase understanding of the value of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in supporting sustainable livelihoods, food security, health and well-being; • Increase understanding of MPA theory and practice, including evidence gathering, identification, selection, monitoring and assessment of MPAs; • Increase support and compliance for MPAs with stakeholders; and • Enhance capability and drive within countries to sustainably manage, monitor and assess conservation activities in the future. Project Objectives To meet the overall aims of this project (Section 2), the objectives are:  Produce electronic resources to be dispersed across the Maldives Atolls online and via island councils. These resources should aim to improve the fundamental local understanding of MPAs, what they are, the types of MPAs in the Maldives, the social, economic and environmental benefits they bring and the threats they currently face.  The resources produced must be translated into both English and Dhivehi to maximise accessibility and inclusivity across the Maldives.  The ideal candidate to produce these resources will have experience in creating communication content for the Maldives, this experience will help us to tailor our products to the audience in the Maldives.  The end result will be an engaging set of products aimed at reading ages of 6-9 that will provide basic information on what an MPA is, why they are important, how they benefit local communities and how they help to protect the marine environment from the threats they face.  Ideally information on how local people can engage with MPAs and help the marine environment will be included.

JNCC wishes to commission a contract to undertake the Particle Size Analysis (PSA), of samples collected on the 0922S offshore survey. There were 121 PSA samples collected on this survey to the West Shetland Shelf MPA. Bidders are invited to provide a description of how the requirements set out below will be met and a per sample quote. The sample residues will be stored by the contractor until completion of the contract (i.e. after any remedial action identified through quality checks has been actioned).

JNCC wishes to commission a contract to undertake the analysis of a subset of seabed imagery (still images only) collected during the CEND0119 survey at Offshore Brighton MCZ. Still images from 84 stations will be analysed; tenderers should provide quotes outlined in table 1. More detailed metadata will be provided along with information from the logs and survey report. Please note: The image subset is still undergoing filtering at this point and as such we are asking tenderers to quote for the analysis of up to 1527 still images, however this number may reduce when the filtering process is complete. Access to a BIIGLE project containing images from the survey can be provided for tenderers to view upon request. (Please note this could be the images from the subset previously analysed if the images for this analysis are not finalised for BIIGLE upload, but will be representative of all stations)

In November 2022, JNCC and the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies published a joint statement on Nature Recovery. This set out the need to embed nature recovery in UK decision-making and to deliver impactful policies that incentivise and drive public and private investment in the protection and recovery of the UK’s nature through all our activities. As envisaged in that statement, the global community has now committed to the ambitious Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In May 2023, JNCC published a new strategy: Together for Nature (https://jncc.gov.uk/about-jncc/our-strategy); this further set out the need to advise on the design of new policies and actions to progress nature recovery. However, despite a strong evidence base on biodiversity in the UK, we currently lack the technical capability to use this evidence to model the impact of potential environmental, societal and policy trajectories on biodiversity.

In November 2022, JNCC and the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies published a joint statement on Nature Recovery. This set out the need to embed nature recovery in UK decision-making and to deliver impactful policies that incentivise and drive public and private investment in the protection and recovery of the UK's nature through all our activities. As envisaged in that statement, the global community has now committed to the ambitious Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In May 2023, JNCC published a new strategy: Together for Nature (https://jncc.gov.uk/about-jncc/our-strategy); this further set out the need to advise on the design of new policies and actions to progress nature recovery. However, despite a strong evidence base on biodiversity in the UK, we currently lack the technical capability to use this evidence to model the impact of potential environmental, societal and policy trajectories on biodiversity.