Breeding Surveys of Storm Petrel Species at a Number of Key Sites in the Northwest of Ireland

Tender description

National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is responsible for the conservation of natural habitats and species and the protection of biological diversity in Ireland. Acquiring robust data on breeding population size and range of target species is an important component of effective conservation management. Due to their breeding ecology, burrow nesting seabirds namely Puffin, Manx Shearwater, Storm Petrel and Leach’s Petrel present a challenge in this regard. The last major census for these birds occurred approximately 20 years ago as part of the greater breeding seabird census known as Seabird 2000. As part of a national programme of seabird monitoring, NPWS supported a research studentship, which focused on defining optimal survey and monitoring methods to acquire statistically robust data, both at the site level and at the national level in order to derive estimates of population size and trends for these aforementioned seabirds. As part of this research robust population estimates of some seabird populations at the site level have been acquired. Building on the work done so far the next step is, using the draft refined methods, to survey these species at further sites in Ireland. Relevant recent initiatives include a survey of the breeding Storm Petrel population in the northwest of Ireland by BirdWatch Ireland as part of the Interreg MarPAMM project and on-going NPWS seabird monitoring work. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage now invites tenders for the provision of surveys of breeding Storm Petrel and Leach’s Petrel at a number of key sites at key marine island sites off the County Mayo coast. A detailed specification of the Department’s technical requirements is set out in the RfT document. A strict schedule of deliverables will be agreed with the successful Tenderer, with the contract expected to commence in May and is to conclude by September 2021.