Provision of expert scientific/professional services to compile baseline geographical, ecological and conservation management information on selected Ramsar Sites

Tender description

requirements The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DAHRRGA) manages the Ireland's nature conservation responsibilities under national and European law. Whilst this work continues to focus on obligations under the Habitats and Birds Directives, Ireland is a signatory to other International Conventions, including the ‘Ramsar Convention’, which predates the EU Directives. Ireland is one of 168 Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands which first convened in Ramsar, Iran in 1971, and since called the Ramsar Convention. This intergovernmental treaty embodies the commitments of its member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories. The Convention on Wetlands came into force for Ireland on 15 March 1985. Ireland presently has 45 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance. The Irish Ramsar Wetland Committee (IRWC) is an independent, widely representative group, set up to advance the protection, appreciation and understanding of wetlands in Ireland and to promote the implementation of the Ramsar Convention (http://irishwetlands.ie/). Funding for this contract will primarily be provided by the NPWS, the Office of Public Works and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (all represented on the IRWC); funding for the Dublin estuary sites will be from Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council. (See RFT)