Forest Monitoring and Land Use

ADVANCE CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE (ACAN)

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of Requirements

Canada has information needs that support federal programs, augment provincial territorial programs, and offer scientific insights and methods applicable more broadly over the science community. The science community and the public at large have demonstrated a broad interest in timely spatial data products over a range of categories.

The most common data utilized to map land cover and land cover change with a high level of detail are from Landsat satellites. The 30 m spatial resolution of Landsat sensors (TM, ETM+, OLI), combined with a spatial extent of 185 x 185 km per scene, have a proven utility for monitoring land surface parameters over time, offering insights at human scales. With observations reaching back to 1972, the Landsat program also provides the longest record of remotely sensed data over land and is therefore well suited for mapping anthropogenic changes of the terrestrial biosphere.

Science focus is often on image processing issues and detailed technical aspects related to appropriate image data usage. While these aspects persist and require continued attention, we currently have available national composite image data products that will also allow for addressing of outstanding applications questions, many of which are focused on Canada’s vast forested ecosystems, with others that relate the interaction of forest with non-forest ecosystems. The objectives of this work are related to answering these outstanding questions / projects following data gathering, analysis, and documentation:

 1.  Report on within year satellite data trends to inform on northern phenology and land cover. Report on and map within year satellite data to augment between year information to produce a baseline and locational likelihood for treed vegetation in the north, informing development of a tree line for climate change studies.

 2.  Produce a wall-to-wall forest inventory that will be generated through modeling and remote sensing. Demonstrate that current satellite image sources (time series Landsat) and data products be pushed towards the generation of a forest inventory.

 3.  Use information on previous wildfire locations to aid in the estimation of future likelihood to burn. Spatial-temporal analysis to be informed by satellite data products.

 4.  Map urban tree cover as captured with multi-temporal satellite data. Demonstrate, via science and documentation, how urban tree cover over time increases and decreases and where.

 5.  Implement science to demonstrate how urban land use can be better informed upon using satellite time series and auxiliary spatial data.

3. Criteria for Assessment of the Statement of Capabilities

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets the following requirements:

• Having a principal investigator with minimum 10 years' experience with image processing of forest ecosystems over the entire Canadian landmass (representing 650 million hectares).
• Having a principal investigator with a PhD from a recognized University in the field of forestry or geography with knowledge of remote sensing and Canadian forest ecosystems.
• Having access to a computer environment capable of using airborne laser data (Lidar) to measure forest ecosystem changes over the entire Canadian landmass over space and time.

4. Trade Agreements

The following trade agreements apply:

North American Free Trade Agreement

Canadian Free Trade Agreement

Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement

Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement

Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement

Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement

Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement

5. Set-aside under the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business

 Not applicable.

6. Comprehensive Land Claims Agreement(s)

 Not applicable.

7. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

We intend to deal directly with the supplier mentioned in section 10 below as, it is the only known supplier that meets the mandatory criteria set out in section 3 above.

Should Canada receive a statement of capabilities from a supplier that contains sufficient information to indicate that it meets the requirements set forth in this ACAN, a competitive process will be triggered with a technical and financial evaluation methodology of the bids proposed by the potential bidders.

8. Exception to the Government Contracts Regulations

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) – “only one person is capable of performing the work.

The identified provider, University of British Columbia, is the only one able to meet all of the criteria identified in paragraph 3 above.

9. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

 The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:

 North American Free Trade Agreement as stated in paragraph 2 (b) in Article 1016

Canadian Free Trade Agreement as stated in paragraph 2 (b) (iii) in Article 513

Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement as stated in Article Kbis-09 (b)

Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement as stated in Article 1409 1 (c)

Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement as stated in paragraph 2 (b) in Article 17.11

Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement as stated in paragraph 9 in Article 16.07

10. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor.

11. Contract Period

 The contract period will be from contract award, 2019 to March 31, 2019

12. Estimated Cost

 The estimated maximum value of the contract is $131,250.00 CAD inclusive.

13. Name and Address of the Proposed Contractor

Nicholas Coops

Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing

Department of Forest Resource Management

Forest Sciences Centre. 2424 Main Mall.

University of British Columbia.

Vancouver, BC., Canada V6T 1Z4

14. Suppliers’ right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a Statement of Capabilities in writing, preferably by e-mail, to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date and time of this Notice. The Statement of Capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

15. Closing Date

The closing date for a submission of a Statement of Capabilities is January 7, 2019 at 14:00 Pacific Standard Time.

16. Contract Authority

Gerald Baran

Natural Resources Canada

Senior Procurement Officer

Victoria, BC, Canada

Telephone: 250-298-2502

email: gerald.baran@canada.ca