The role and value of natural capital in mitigating impacts of natural hazards in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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. The contractor will be expected to collaborate with the Government of Turks and Caicos Islands (TCIG) and contractors of the parallel TCI project to ensure that model(s) and tool(s) can incorporate outputs and findings as necessary and can be supported by TCIG technical infrastructure with the aim to be run and maintained by Government Officials. There are a number of related Darwin Plus projects that the contractor would be expected to make themselves familiar with and liaise with project leads as appropriate, to avoid duplication of effort and maximise value for money and best use of all outputs for the Government of Turks and Caicos Islands and HMG. The objectives of the work to be done under this contract are to build upon the previous and ongoing natural capital work in TCI to: A. Identify, assess, and map the value of priority habitats and the natural environment in mitigating terrestrial and coastal hazards (e.g., those associated with disaster resilience and protection services) in the TCI; B. Refine existing models to incorporate the condition of habitats into scenarios analysis which will assess how degraded or improved condition of priority habitats impacts the economy and disaster resilience, e.g. impact of disease and bleaching of coral reefs, or conversely, their restoration C. Demonstrate the economic value of the natural environment in mitigating flood risk and its contribution to total economic value; D. Support the integration of the economic assessments into TCI Government decision-making; E. Provide training to TCI Government officers in the use and application of economic valuation techniques, to undertake future assessments, and how these assessments can support decision making. F. Develop communications products for stakeholder engagement. The work will be conducted in collaboration with the TCI Government and the JNCC, reporting to a TCI based Project Steering Group, as well as the contractor team developing the Disaster resilience in TCI: coastal and inland flood risk modelling opportunity mapping and indicators parallel project. The contractor should be prepared to travel to the TCI as necessary, should travel restrictions be lifted, to review and collaborate with TCI officials and deliver training.