---
title: "Upland Breeding Bird Surveys - South Pennine Moors SSSI"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-069125"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-069125"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-069125.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-069125.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NATURAL ENGLAND"
published: "2026-05-05"
---

# Upland Breeding Bird Surveys - South Pennine Moors SSSI

Buyer: NATURAL ENGLAND  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-069125

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## Summary

The procurement process for the "Upland Breeding Bird Surveys - South Pennine Moors SSSI" was initiated by Natural England, a body governed by public law under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The procurement aimed to award a contract for survey services focusing on breeding bird assemblages in upland moorland and grassland with water bodies. Located in the South Pennine Moors, West Yorkshire, the process falls under the industry category of environmental protection services. The contract was successfully awarded on 22 April 2026 to The Environment Partnership (TEP) Limited, concluding the tender process which was conducted under a limited procurement method without prior publication of a call for competition. The procurement was a call-off under the 'SSSI Monitoring and Evaluation' framework, with services contracted at a value of £125,019.43.

This tender presents substantial growth opportunities for businesses specialising in environmental survey and evaluation services. Companies with experience in ecological assessments and a background in working with government frameworks would be well-positioned to compete. The nature of the services required, including assessing breeding bird aggregations and condition monitoring of moorland habitats, necessitates expertise in both fieldwork and data analysis, suggesting ideal participation from firms adept in these areas. The award criteria prioritized technical quality at 60%, complemented by price at 40%, indicating a preference for businesses offering high-quality services with competitive pricing. Although the competitive bidding process involved limited prior publication, the use of the framework contract allowed multiple suppliers to participate, highlighting the importance of pre-qualified suppliers in the environmental sector.

## Notice

Call-off under SSSI Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, to determine and describe and quality of:
* Assemblages of breeding birds - Upland moorland and grassland with water bodies 
* Aggregation of breeding birds - Golden Plover
* Aggregation of breeding birds - Curlew
* Aggregation of breeding birds - Merlin
* Aggregation of breeding birds - Twite
* at the following sites:
* South Pennine Moors SSSI

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The purpose of this contract is to: 

* Determine and describe the location(s) and quality of: 

* Assemblages of breeding birds - Upland moorland and grassland with water bodies 

* Aggregation of breeding birds - Golden Plover

* Aggregation of breeding birds - Curlew

* Aggregation of breeding birds - Merlin

* Aggregation of breeding birds - Twite

* at the following sites:
* South Pennine Moors SSSI

* Make an overall condition assessment of the feature using standardised survey methods.
* Record details of any 'pressures' observed at the site which may impact on the condition of the monitored feature(s) 
* Suggest where current management is working and, where it is not, why that might that be.
* Make comments on the monitoring specification 

South Pennine Moors SSSI - Background Information

South Pennine Moors SSSI is outstandingly important for its extensive upland habitats and their associated species. The site is the largest area of unenclosed moorland within West Yorkshire and contains the most diverse and extensive examples of upland plant communities in the county. Extensive areas of blanket bog occur on the upland plateaux and are punctuated by species rich acidic flushes and mires. There are also wet and dry heaths and acid grasslands. Three habitat types which occur on the site are rare enough within Europe to be listed on Annex 1 of the EC habitats and Species Directive (92/43) EEC. These communities are typical of and represent the full range of upland vegetation classes found in the South Pennines. 

The moorlands support nationally important numbers of golden plover Pluvialis apricaria, curlew Numenius arquata, merlin Falco columbarius and twite Carduelis flavirostris. These species and the rest of the moorland breeding bird assemblage require the mosaic of habitats and large area of the moors for their survival. The blanket bogs are the main breeding grounds for the golden plover and dunlin Calidris alpina. The South Pennine Moors hold 1.3% of the British breeding population of golden plovers. The very large number of meadow pipits Anthus pratensis nesting on the bogs are a major food source for the merlin. The deeper cover provided by the heather provides nest sites for a range of other species. The merlin population of the South Pennine Moors is particularly important. 4.7% of the British population nests on these moors. Golden plover are also known to nest on recently burnt areas of heather. Curlews favour the wet acid grasslands and semi-improved areas on the edge of the moors to breed. A significant number (0.8%) of the British curlew population breed on the South Pennine Moors sharing this habitat with lapwing Vanellus vanellus and in the wettest areas snipe Gallinago gallinago and redshank Tringa totanus. Twite Carduelis flavirostris on the South Pennine Moors represent 1% of the British breeding population. Twite use virtually all the moorland habitats at different stages of their lifecycle. They prefer heather for nesting but also use bracken, boulder screes, grass tussocks and dry stone walls. Feeding on small seeds they utilise grassy areas throughout the moorlands, weedy areas on the moorland edge, semi-improved pastures and even areas of burnt Molinia grassland

The South Pennine Moors SSSI is made up of 165 management units with the interest features of the site occurring across multiple units.

### Procurement Information

This is a call-off under framework contract 'SSSI Monitoring and Evaluation', Lot 1. All four Lot 1 Suppliers requested to quote, only two submitted bids.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/040932-2026 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 5 May 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 21 Apr 2026 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £125,019 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NATURAL ENGLAND |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 4DF |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | THE ENVIRONMENT PARTNERSHIP (TEP |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 79311000 - Survey services

## Release History

- 5 May 2026 at 10:50 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/040932-2026

## Notice URLs

- https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-069125. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-069125.json.