CEFAS25-83 Contract for Underwater Forest Study & Citizen Initiative

The Coastal Health programme would like to build upon the previous community science work carried out by NHM in the pilot phase of the programme through the following activities.

Underwater Forests community science study:

• Maintain the existing study of Underwater Forests, supporting existing volunteers to collect data.
• Curate the data and make it publicly available.
• Evaluate the quality of the data collected.
• Produce a final report summarising:
• The methods chosen and trialled to recruit volunteers, collect and curate data on coastal organisms as indicators of coastal health,
• Key findings from the data collected,
• Findings from the evaluation exercise and recommendations for future Coastal Health community science studies.

Community Science for Healthy Coasts:

• Building on initial engagement led by the NHM under the pilot phase of Coastal Health, identify and engage with existing citizen science organisations and partnerships that undertake coastal monitoring, to help Cefas establish a network/partnership for advancing coastal health through community science, including NGOs, government bodies and existing coastal partnerships.
• Building on the findings of the Underwater Forests study, work with the above partnership to develop a toolkit for a future coastal health-focused community science monitoring study to address gaps in existing monitoring programmes. The contents of this toolkit may include methods and recommendations for: recruiting volunteers, user-testing resources, data collection and quality assurance protocols, and communication approaches.

Deliverables:

1. A summary report of the methods, findings and evaluation of the Underwater Forests Community Science study.

To be delivered by – 20th March 2026

2. Underwater Forests survey data to be made open access on NHM data ecosystem.

To be delivered by – As soon as possible and no later than 20th March 2026

3. A toolkit for a coastal health community science study that supports the monitoring of the health of UK coastal ecosystems.

To be delivered by - 20th March 2026

4. Reporting progress and risks at a monthly meeting with Cefas and providing quarterly financial and progress reports to the programme board.

To be delivered monthly and quarterly, ending by 31st March 2026