Coordination and delivery of services for restoration actions and associated works for WaterLANDS project site in Ireland

Tender description

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage currently seek a contractor to coordinate a RBPS/restoration actions hybrid pilot as part of the WaterLANDS ‘Action Site’ at Cuilcagh-Anierin SAC. This role involves building capacity for the new CAP in 2022, coordinating conservation and restoration actions from 2023-2026, monitoring and evaluating the efficacy of actions and the potential for upscaling, liaising with participant farmers, farm advisors and local community groups and working closely with the WaterLANDS project team to deliver on the project objectives, tasks and deliverables across several work packages. Some communication, dissemination and exploitation activities also form part of the role. Lot 1: The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage currently seek a contractor to coordinate a RBPS/restoration actions hybrid pilot as part of the WaterLANDS ‘Action Site’ at Cuilcagh-Anierin SAC. This role involves building capacity for the new CAP in 2022, coordinating conservation and restoration actions from 2023-2026, monitoring and evaluating the efficacy of actions and the potential for upscaling, liaising with participant farmers, farm advisors and local community groups and working closely with the WaterLANDS project team to deliver on the project objectives, tasks and deliverables across several work packages. Some communication, dissemination and exploitation activities also form part of the role. The successful tenderer will work with farm advisors, DAFM, Cooperation Project teams and farmers in Cuilcagh-Anierin SAC through the WaterLANDS project. Up to 200 farmers will be recruited on the basis of suitability to the WaterLANDS project. Participating farmers’ lands will be surveyed with a focus on identifying ecological issues and potential restoration actions. This will provide a clear indication of the existing quality of the landscape and the restoration work required to improve it, in addition to a potential quantification (by proxy) of carbon storage and sequestration potential. From 2023-2026 the project focus will be on carrying out ‘supporting actions’, which will be co-designed with farmers and their farm advisors. These actions are only taken where there will be an increase in ecological score (i.e. habitat improvement). This intervention will continue for the duration of the project. It should be noted that most supporting actions are jointly funded between the farmer and the project team, and farmers will receive training on how to undertake supporting actions, as well as learning about the benefits for such restoration actions. This ensures a much greater buy-in from the farmer to the understanding of the supporting actions. Farmers may also be able to apply for supporting actions