L5. Develop templates to ensure biodiversity is firmly and accountably included in procurement processes for design, construction and maintenance
Strengthening biodiversity accountability in project procurement
It is often difficult to ensure that pro-biodiversity policy is effectively translated throughout the project cycle as it progresses through planning, design, construction and maintenance. In each phase, a procurement or briefing is undertaken to establish a contract regarding delivery of the next phase; often this procurement involves a detailed specification of the required works.
When procurement specifications do not include biodiversity requirements (for example, that a council planting palette is followed closely, or remnant vegetation is retained), nature can end up slipping between the cracks. This can happen even when the right language is included in tenders, but those requirements are not rigorously required in an accountable way. Councils can counteract this by developing standardised ‘hard’ clauses and metrics for inclusion in procurement.