Provision of a single supplier framework agreement for the provision of on-site ecological database and GIS specialist support service

Tender description

The National Parks and Wildlife Service manage their core central data holdings using a number of software solutions. The main repository of NPWS protected sites information is the Sites Registry Database (SRD) which comprises a dbase relational database that stores the attribute information pertaining to NPWS protected sites. It forms the hub of protected site related data workflows in NPWS which are central to the protected site designation process and also the NATURA 2000 reporting workflow to the Commission and other priority reporting areas. The related protected sites boundary spatial data is created and maintained in-house in an ESRI enterprise geodatabase by the NPWS GIS Unit. The NPWS protected sites datasets are published as Open Data using bulk data downloads and OGC and ESRI web services. The NPWS run a wealth of scientific surveys and research projects in support of their ongoing work programme. The NPWS commission habitat and species survey projects regularly as part of their mandate to create and manage protected sites, Site Specific Conservation Objectives, management plans, and monitoring assessments. All of these survey projects are underpinned by spatial data and GIS. The NPWS species survey records are compiled in a Recorder 6 application database, and are published where applicable to the National Biodiversity Data Centre. The role of the NPWS GIS Unit and NPWS Conservation Systems and Informatics Unit is to manage the full data management lifecycle for NPWS protected sites, research and scientific surveys projects. The data resources and products are quality controlled and validated data against the NPWS Project Data Standards and guidelines https://www.npws.ie/maps-and-data/data-standards/npws-project-data-standards . They are documented using the NPWS Resource Metadata profile and are subsequently archived in the NPWS Data repository. (Refer to RFT)