Indicators for Farm-Level Monitoring of Beauty, Heritage and Engagement

Tender description

Defra is seeking to procure a contract with a single supplier that has the relevant experience and capability to develop a suite of indicators for holding level monitoring and evaluation of beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment, in the context of Environmental Land Management (ELM). ELM will form the cornerstone of a bespoke English agricultural policy, underpinned by payment of public money for public goods. ELM has six public goods objectives: clean air, clean and plentiful water, thriving plants and wildlife, reduced risk of harm from environmental hazards, mitigation of and adaptation to climate change and enhanced beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment. Defra will monitor and evaluate the delivery of ELM’s objectives. Existing frameworks of agri-environment monitoring and evaluation indicators have a clear gap in the beauty, heritage and engagement space. This contract seeks to fill this gap, and in developing robust indicators for beauty, heritage and engagement will contribute to the comprehensiveness of the overall monitoring and evaluation of ELM. The supplier will work closely Defra to coordinate with its existing work on national level monitoring and indicator development for the 25 Year Environment Plan’s goals. The project will also seek to use learning from the development of the indicators framework to feedback recommendations for “what works” in delivering BHE outcomes, including attention to land managers attitudes and buy in, and possible unintended consequences. The primary aim of this project is to develop indicators for the ELM monitoring and evaluation approach for BHE.