16.10.2015
Development of the web based platform
“SAP Tracking Tool”
A call for tender by BirdLife International
Deadline: 1st December 2015
1. Background and context
In April 2015, BirdLife International started a new EU funded project to tackle the severe threats that represent a danger for the conservation of a number of iconic birds: LIFE Euro SAP.
LIFE Euro SAP is coordinated by BirdLife International and governed through a Steering Committee, formed by representatives from each of the 13 partners involved. It will run for 3 years, covering a total of 16 species. Key stakeholders of LIFE EURO SAP also include governmental representatives, international stakeholders (such as the European Commission and AEWA1), NGOs and private sector representatives, e.g. farmers, tour operators, water boards, food industry (milk products and beef) and hunters.
The project will develop new Species Action Plans (SAPs) for 2 species (Yelkouan Shearwater, Monteiro’s Storm-petrel), it will review and update existing SAPs (Velvet Scoter, White-headed Duck, Cinereous Vulture, Bearded Vulture, Dalmatian Pelican, and Turtle Dove) and it will develop and pilot Multi Species Action Plan for European lowland grassland breeding waders (Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Lapwing, ‘Baltic’ Dunlin, Ruff, Common Snipe, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit and Common Redshank).
The Species Action Plans are needed to determine the appropriate strategic approach to species conservation: plans provide information about population estimates, trends, life history, ecology, threats, legal status, existing conservation actions, policies, key areas, measurable conservation objectives and protection status of each species and describe the key actions, and relevant cost estimates, that are required to improve their conservation status.
A key deliverable of the project and a major innovation in the species action planning process in Europe will be the SAP Tracking Tool, a web based collaborative platform that will facilitate coordination between the various frameworks involved in action planning, and that will facilitate discussion and stakeholders involvement. It will also provide a dynamic mechanism to collect information on plan implementation to measure progress and assist in the evaluation of plan implementation. More information on the technical specifications, features and structure of the SAP Tracking Tool can found in Annex I.
1
Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, an intergovernmental treaty dedicated to the conservation of migratory waterbirds and their habitats across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Greenland and the Canadian
2. Contractual conditions
The tenderer should bear in mind the provisions of the draft contract which specifies the rights and obligations of the contractor, particularly those on payments, performance of the contract, confidentiality, and checks and audits.
3. Identification of the tenderer
The tender must include a cover letter presenting the name of the tenderer and the name of the single contact person in relation to this tender.
Tenderers must provide the following information:
- For legal persons, a legible copy of the notice of appointment of the persons authorised to represent the tenderer in dealings with third parties and in legal proceedings, or a copy of the publication of such appointment if the legislation which applies to the legal entity concerned requires such publication. Any delegation of this authorisation to another representative not indicated in the official appointment must be evidenced.
- For natural persons, where applicable, a proof of registration on a professional or trade register or any other official document showing the registration number.
4. Evaluation and award
In order to be eligible for this call, the tenderer shall:
- Present the detailed methodology to be used within two weeks from the start and a draft of the Platform (see Annex I) should be ready within 1 month before the final delivery date. - Remain available for regular meeting and contacts with BirdLife International staff
responsible for this project
- Present a detailed description of the tasks proposed to deliver this contract, including key delivery and/or consultation dates.
- If applicable, the tenderer will present how the roles and responsibilities of the proposed team are distributed for each tasks.
The tender will be awarded according to the best-value-for-money procedure.
- The tenderer must prove experience in the field of design and implementation of database systems, particularly as regards linking different data sources and presenting them in a friendly and easy-to-use way. See Annex I.
- The tenderer must demonstrate experience of working in English and must prove capacity to draft reports in English.
- A list of relevant similar services provided, with dates and recipients, public or private should be presented by the tenderer.
Having examined the tenders from a technical point of view, the evaluation committee, formed by senior staff from BirdLife International, will proceed considering which is the economically most advantageous offer taking into account only those tenders that have fulfilled the conditions explained above.
The evaluation committee will then proceed with the financial comparison of the tenders retained for further consideration according to the ranking procedure below.
BirdLife International reserves the right not to select any tender if the amounts tendered exceed the budget envisaged for this project.
5. Timeframe and Financial offer
BirdLife International will open a public tender and subcontract this activity to ensure the maximum quality-standards while remaining as its main content provider and overall manager. The service should be complete and available online as beta-version, by April 2016. A testing phase of no more than 2 months should then be allowed for BirdLife to identify additional changes to the system. The final product should be delivered no later than 1st of September 2016.
Consultants should present the detailed methodology within two weeks from the start and a draft of the Platform two weeks before the end date, at meetings or phone calls with the steering group.
Regular meetings, either online or face-to-face will be ocorring within the tenderer and BirdLife officers, so progress can be reviewed. A minimum of 1 meeting per month (remote) is envisaged.
The consultant will sign the contract with BirdLife International on behalf of the group. The Consultant should be available, within the budget of the project, to present the results in LIFE EURO SAP steering committee meetings in Brussels.
The deadline for submitting proposals is 1st of December, 12:00 CET, 2015. The proposals should be sent to Christina Ieronymidou ([email protected]) by email only.
Results will be communicated by email. Only the winning tenderer will be contacted.
The budget for the project: EUR 50 000 (including VAT). To be paid in two instalments, the first 50% after signature of the contract and the second after completion of the work and final reporting.
Any offers received that do not respect the upper limit will be automatically excluded from the evaluation procedure. Travel and subsistence expenses are not refundable separately.
The price for the tender must be quoted in euro. Tenderers from countries outside the euro zone have to quote their prices in euro. The price quoted may not be revised in line with exchange rate movements. It is for the tenderer to assume the risks or the benefits deriving from any variation.
6. Further information and contact:
ANNEX I
1. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
This contract is for the production of a web based collaborative platform (Species Action Plan Tracking Tool – “SAP Tracking Tool”) that is integrated into specific parts of BirdLife International web site (datazone) and tools, that supports the monitoring and delivery of existing/new Species Action Plans for European birds. The tool should primarily focus on the target species covered by this grant, but should be adaptable to include other species in the near future.
The SAP Tracking Tool should be a dynamic and attractive collaborative platform, easy to use and maintain, where species leaders can inform about progress on Species Action Plan implementation and delivery.
2. Features and Structure of the SAP Tracking Tool
The SAP Tracking Tool should be fully integrated within BirdLife International Website, with the view of reducing maintenance costs once LIFE EURO SAP project is finished.
The SAP Tracking Tool aims to coordinate the prioritisation of species for SAPs across the different frameworks involved in action planning in Europe, by bringing together the different lists of priority species and identifying overlaps.
The key function of the SAP Tracking Tool is to keep stakeholders informed about changes in data and coordinate the information flow about the implementation of species action plans., Therefore it shall contain the following information fields:
• Species covered by LIFE EURO SAP, including information (obtained/linked to/from BirdLife International’s datazone) on its conservation status (both global, regional and national status), threats, population, distribution and trends.
• Existing Species Action Plans for some of the target species covered by LIFE EURO SAP. Including Information on progress in implementing the recommendations in the action plans, per country; organization responsible for it, contacts and outline of the main actions suggested in those plans. • All target species info should also contain (regardless of wether or not they have previous SAP or
not), information on:
o Research: description of research carried out at national/regional level, references to published materials and links to on-line resources with particular reference to the key action points on knowledge gaps identified in the action plan;
o Recent conservation measures: national action plan (link to the document if available on-line), national/regional species working group (link to the contact person), species and habitat conservation measures including agri-environmental measures and LIFE or other EU-projects, results of monitoring of these schemes, contact details of project managers with particular reference to the recommendations of the action plans;
o Indicators: Information related to the indicators identified in the action plan to measure progress towards expected results and would be used to assist the evaluation of progress. The SAP Track Tool should offer the possibility to group and package individual measures/values from across the different target species’ action plans into policy relevant packages (e.g. for agri-environmental measures, for fisheries, etc) and also to produce summary reports on plan implementation across countries.
The SAP Track Tool should offer the possibility of uploading various types of species info, either directly or as links to other existing sites. This shall include text, images, maps, graphs or other specific materials, if needed. The possibility of administrators uploading information in bulk should be considered.
The SAP Track Tool should allow different levels of administration, so LIFE EURO SAP coordinators can grant different editing rights to LIFE EURO SAP members or other potential users.
The SAP Track Tool should be designed in a way that ensures self-sustainability at very low maintenance costs.
The SAP Track Tool should be modular, offering the possibily of enlarging the number of species covered to others not targeted by LIFE EURO SAP.
During the lifetime of this project, the Steering Committee will act as the governing body for this tool. However, BirdLife International will be the only reference contact for the tenderer.
The Steering Committee will annually review the progress on the implementation of the action plan for the target species within the country/region through the SAP Tracking Tool reporting system. National reports should therefore be open for comments for a certain period of time before in this platform. In addition, the SAP tool would also provide an opportunity to disseminate information about conservation and research projects, including the results of LIFE projects on the relevant species and agri-environment schemes.
