A study to develop the scope for monitoring landscape-scale biodiversity impacts

Tender description

This Contract is a scoping study to inform survey design and stratification of a landscape-scale agri-environment scheme monitoring programme. This scoping study will inform the design, stratification, methodologies and analyses for a landscape-scale monitoring programme to assess the impact of English AES. This includes Countryside Stewardship agreements/capital grants and ongoing Higher Level Stewardship agreements. The scoping study will need to take account of historical AES uptake in study units. The study will help ensure a survey design which both optimises allocation of monitoring resources and generates sufficiently robust conclusions. It will address the following five aspects of monitoring: Objectives The objectives of this contract are to: 1.Scope analytical approaches 2.Identify indicator species to monitor 3.Develop a score for level of AES intervention on study units within National Character Areas (NCAs) 4.Select landscape study areas for species monitoring 5.Develop a species monitoring strategy