Developing Disaster Resilience Turks and Caicos Islands: Coastal and inland flood risk modelling, opportunity mapping and indicators

Tender description

The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) is a UK Overseas Territory located in the tropical Atlantic Ocean around 900 km southeast of Florida. The archipelago of over 40 low-lying, limestone islands covers 950 km2 and supports numerous endangered, endemic, or range-restricted species and rare habitats. Population concentration in coastal areas and the location of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Atlantic hurricane belt makes storm surge a significant hazard (Bray et al. 2019). Hurricane Irma for example led to peak surge of over 6 m (University of the West Indies 2017; Williams et al. 2018), damaging infrastructure and natural capital assets (Government of the Virgin Islands 2017). It is therefore important to understand how nature-based solutions may attenuate storm surge and improve resilience in TCI. The 2016 Conflict, Stability & Security Fund (CSSF) funded programme of work, 'Enhancing economic security through environmental resilience' in the UK Overseas Territories (OTs) which aimed to improve long-term economic planning to support growth and development. Embedding the role of the natural environment in economic and spatial planning through existing or new policies or legislation was one element, with the objective to protect and enhance the value of the OTs vital natural environment. The suite of projects undertaken mapped and valued the natural assets by integrating satellite data, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and economic assessments of the priority environmental goods and services (derived from natural capital). Relevant to this contract is a GIS-based model that was developed to assess vulnerability to storm surge and flooding events and their impacts on infrastructure and human life in the British Virgin Islands. For more information see: https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/natural-capital-in-the-caribbean-uk-overseas-territories/. This suite of JNCC CSSF-funded projects had the following objectives: • establish the Total Economic Value (TEV) of the terrestrial and marine natural environment to each participating Territory; • identify the priority natural capital assets and measurable attributes (Natural Capital Metrics) to monitor changes in value through time; • integrate natural capital valuations into national mapping (GIS) to define the spatial distribution of these natural assets (Value Mapping) and to promote the integration of such valuations into planning and policy making to improve long-term economic growth. This current phase (2021/22) of CSSF project work builds on this earlier work, which is now being applied in additional, disaster-vulnerable, OTs in the Caribbean. You are invited by JNCC Support Co (JNCC) to submit a tender for the supply of works or services required under the above project. If interested, you should download and carefully read the documents contained within the zip file or by following the link.