Expert Scientific/Technical Services for ‘Farm plan grassland monitoring 2022-23’

Tender description

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) require a contractor/contract team to carry out surveys of Annex-quality grasslands and good quality semi-natural grasslands on a subset of NPWS Farm Plan sites during 2022 and 2023, with the bulk of the fieldwork being carried out in 2023. The aims of these surveys include: - collection of baseline data on the location and conservation status of these habitats on the farms; - collection of data to feed into Habitats Directive Article 17 monitoring for key grassland habitats; - collection of data against which future condition can be compared; - comparison of results from this grassland conservation assessment and the grassland scores from scorecards (which will have been carried out on most farms by the farm planner); - re-survey of some sites which have already had a baseline survey; - carry out scoping visits at sites where grassland quality is uncertain; - feed back information to the NPWS Agri-Ecology Unit including: o the quality and conservation status of the habitats, o additional recommendations for management (taking account of currently prescribed farm plans). It is envisaged that c.40-50 farms will be included across the two years, and liaison with farmers, farm planners and NPWS local staff will be required. Close liaison with the NPWS Grassland Ecologist and with the NPWS Agri-Ecology Unit will be required throughout. The fieldwork will need to be done by an experienced botanist(s), and fieldwork should take place between mid-May and late August (and possibly early Sept if needed). There is a set maximum fee available for the work. Interim deliverables from 2022 will be due in November 2022, and overall final deliverables for the project will be due in October 2023. It should be noted that similar work was carried out in 2021, and the methods employed in that project will be followed in the main (reports, etc. will be provided to successful tenderers). See RfT Document for full specification