Life Waters Protect Tender

Duration 01-NOV-2019 to 31-DEC -2026Total budget 20369805.00 EU contribution 9500000.00 Project descriptionBackgroundThe loss of high-status waters has been identified as an important issue within Irelandand across Europe. The protection and restoration of these waters is one of the underpinning principles of the Water Framework Directive WFD. This is recognised with appropriate commitments within Irelands second cycle River Basin Management Plan RBMP which was prepared in accordance with the requirements of Article 13 of the WFD. The need to address the loss of high-status waters was identified as a significant water management issue during the RBMPs public consultations.The River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2018-2021 was published in April 2018 and sets out the measures to be implemented by 2021 to protect and improve the status of water bodies in the Irish River Basin District. This covers an area of 70 273 km2 and includes 140 designated bathing waters 64 shellfish growing waters 42 nutrient sensitive areas and 358 Special Areas of Conservation SACs and 154 Special Protection Areas SPAs within the Natura 2000 network.ObjectivesThe overall objective of LIFE-IP Waters of Life is to support the implementation of measures to protect and enhance high-status waters and thus to support the work of the Blue Dot Catchments Programme as outlined in the RBMP for Ireland 2018-2021. The Waters of LIFE IP will act as a catchment-scale demonstration project to test and validate the effectiveness of implementing locally-tailored best practice measures across a range of landscape and land-use management activities typically associated with the catchments of high-status waters.The project will give particular emphasis to the following building technical understanding and capacity in relation to the design and implementation of measures in a strategic and integrated way across a variety of key land-use pressures and activities to deliver effective solutions at a landscapecatchment-wide scale for the protection of high-status waters promoting community and landowner ownership of the actions proposed and ensuring local community involvement in developing the land-use management actions to be implemented making recommendations that will inform the development of future agri-environment and forestry policies and provide for the long-term sustainable management of high-status areas enhancing public appreciation of the ecology ecosystems and natural capital value of high-status waters and their catchments developing and building synergies between measures implemented to address water quality considerations and related biodiversity objectives within the catchments of high-status waters and monitoring and demonstrating the effectiveness of the measures implemented.In addition delivering Irelands obligations under the Water Framework Directive the Waters of LIFE Project