Invasive Non-Native Species eDNA Horizon scanning tool development for citizen science pilot

The North Wales Resilient Ecosystem Pilot Project (NWREPP) aims to pilot the use of new innovated mechanisms to undertake the monitoring, management of Invasive Non-Native Species (Invasive Species) and to enable efficient and effective early detection and prevention. Invasive species are one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline globally. The environmental, economic and social impact of invasive species in Wales will continue to grow unless they are tackled with a sustainable and joined-up approach.Currently the use of eDNA monitoring in rivers requires a high intensity sampling strategy requiring many samples making whole-catchment monitoring cost-prohibitive. There has so far been very little investigation into how to reduce the intensity of sampling to increase cost-efficiency whilst still maintaining accuracy of species composition. It is very important that citizen science programmes are accessible by all and therefore it is important that instructions are simple and effort can be maximised within the available budget.North Wales Wildlife Trust wishes to appoint an organisation work with us to develop and pilot the use of an optimised eDNA sampling strategy in river catchments to enable Invasive Species detection that can be communicated to and actioned by others across Wales through a citizen science network. Preference will be given to proposals which address one or more of the following:A robust proposal which shows a clear understanding of the current requirements for eDNA sampling of rivers; understanding of species composition of UK rivers and; a clear understanding of Invasive species in the UKAn approach which has not yet been trialled or has limited adoption in WalesAdded value through business development opportunities, partnerships or collaborative researchPotential to provide sampling kits that are usable by citizen scientists (all logistics taken care of)Provision of training to citizen scientistsDelivery of a statistically justified monitoring strategy, expected to include modelling approaches such as Site Occupancy Modelling or Joint Species Distribution Modelling.Ability and costings to include further species in sample analysis.Ability and costings to design and produce a citizen-science-friendly toolkit/booklet to describe cost-efficient eDNA sampling for INNS in example river catchments, based on the results of the pilot.We currently aim to focus this work on at least two river catchments for comparison, likely to include where the following species are present;Signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus)Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis)Crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astaci)We invite applications from enterprises across the UK, with a priority for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (as defined by Welsh Government) or volunteer organisations. We also welcome joint proposals which show public-private partnership or applications for student projects where there is agreement and support from an academic supervisor.The successful organisation will need to deliver an optimised sampling strategy tailored to citizen science monitoring of Invasive Species within and across river catchments (with input from the Project team) meeting the above requirements. It should include the following:Robust pilot strategy with aims and objectives (agreed by NWREP Project Manager by March 31st 2022). This should include an Ethics Statement and/or GDPR Statement if applicable.Comprehensive Risk Assessment including on biosecurity.Collection of required data through agreed methodsAnalysis of data (with the potential involvement of study participants)The successful organisation will then be required to write the results of the pilot study as a report with a final draft to be agreed with the INNS Project Manager by March 2023. Any finding that are published will be done jointly with NWWT and be available on open-access sources only.Please submit a proposal (no more than four A4 pages) for a maximum of £70,000 (incl. VAT). Proposals should be submitted to the INNS Project Manager, Kirsty Brown, as either an MS Word or pdf file.This project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 – Enabling Natural Resources across Wales (ENRaW) which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.