Biodiversity Tender Monitoring: Regulations, Opportunities and Methods to Avoid Missing Any Market

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Tender monitoring in the field of biodiversity has become, in less than twenty years, a major strategic issue for environmental consulting firms, ecological engineering companies, ecologists, naturalists and biodiversity specialists. Rapid changes in French environmental regulations, the strengthening of biodiversity protection requirements, the growing number of ecological assessments, and the increasing complexity of authorization procedures have created an entirely new landscape of public and private procurement opportunities.

For all organizations operating in the environmental sector, the ability to set up an effective biodiversity tender monitoring system is no longer a competitive advantage — it has become an absolute necessity.

This article explores regulatory developments, the main types of biodiversity-related tenders, the importance of anticipating private-sector needs, and how to structure a comprehensive biodiversity monitoring strategy. It also includes references to several Deepbloo articles for further reading, such as how to use the BOAMP, how to set up a public procurement monitoring system

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1. Twenty Years of Regulatory Evolution: How Biodiversity Protection Has Transformed Public Procurement

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Over the past two decades, biodiversity protection, wetlands conservation and the safeguarding of protected species have taken an increasingly central role in French environmental regulation. This evolution is based on several key legal frameworks, including the Grenelle environmental laws, the 2016 Biodiversity Act, the strengthened integration of the ERC sequence (Avoid – Reduce – Compensate), and the expanded role of Environmental Authorities (MRAE and CGEDD). Additional obligations relate to wetlands management, ecological inventories, protected species derogation procedures, and environmental authorizations.

These regulatory developments have not only resulted in stricter legal requirements; they have also led to a significant increase in public tenders issued by local authorities, public bodies and infrastructure operators. Requirements for environmental impact assessments, ecological diagnostics, biodiversity monitoring, habitat mapping and compensation measures have driven strong growth in environmental procurement markets.

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Compensatory Measures: A Central Pillar of Regulatory Evolution

One of the most significant changes over the past twenty years has been the rise of environmental compensatory measures, which have become mandatory when residual impacts cannot be avoided or sufficiently reduced. Compensation applies both to protected species and to natural habitats and wetlands.

This translates into the creation, restoration or long-term management of ecological areas to ensure an ecological gain equivalent to or greater than the losses caused by development projects. In practical terms, project developers must finance ecological engineering works, implement multi-year ecological monitoring programs, contract long-term management of natural areas, or design specific ecological infrastructures such as ponds, ecological corridors, quiet zones or wildlife refuges.

The requirement to deliver measurable ecological outcomes — rather than simply deploying means — has significantly increased the technical complexity of these services and has led to a sharp rise in tenders dedicated to biodiversity compensation. Multi-year contracts for ecological diagnostics, monitoring programs or wetland restoration projects are now published on a weekly basis.

This growing regulatory complexity explains why biodiversity-related public and private procurement has become a major market segment for environmental consulting firms.

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2. Biodiversity-Related Public Tenders: Types, Challenges and Opportunities

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Public tenders in the biodiversity sector concern local authorities, public institutions, infrastructure operators and state services alike. The volume of these tenders has increased significantly as public authorities are required to comply with environmental regulations and integrate the ERC sequence into their projects.

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2.1. Compensatory Measures (Wetlands and Protected Species)

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Within the ERC framework, when impacts cannot be avoided or reduced, compensation becomes mandatory. This generates tenders covering wetland creation or restoration, ecological site management, wildlife refuge implementation, ecological engineering works and post-compensation monitoring programs.

Many of these contracts are multi-year in nature, providing a stable and recurring source of activity for specialized environmental companies.

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2.2. Protected Species Derogation Files

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When a project affects a protected species, a derogation file becomes mandatory. This leads to tenders covering:

• the preparation of regulatory studies,
  
  
• naturalist inventories,
  
  
• the definition of avoidance and reduction measures,
  
  
• the design of ecological monitoring protocols.
  
  

These assignments are often urgent and require high-level expertise, generating recurring demand for specialized ecological support.

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2.3. Fauna and Flora Inventories and Municipal Biodiversity Atlases (ABC)

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Many local authorities publish tenders for the preparation of Municipal Biodiversity Atlases (Atlas de la Biodiversité Communale – ABC) or ecological inventories. These services are essential for land-use planning and for anticipating environmental impacts of future developments.

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2.4. Broader Environmental Protection Tenders

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Public procurement also includes projects related to habitat restoration, ecological management of natural sites, environmental impact studies, differentiated green space management, and Water Law compliance files. For environmental consulting firms, these segments represent a continuous flow of opportunities.

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3. Large Private Infrastructure Projects: A Frequently Underestimated Source of Opportunities

Private-sector developers of large-scale projects are also subject to strict environmental requirements.

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3.1. Projects Generating Biodiversity Expertise Needs

Photovoltaic power plants, solar canopies, logistics warehouses, industrial platforms, energy storage facilities, anaerobic digestion plants and major development projects all require detailed environmental assessments.

These projects are systematically reviewed by Environmental Authorities (MRAE), whose recommendations often trigger additional needs for ecological inventories, monitoring programs or compensatory measures.

This situation is particularly common in the energy sector. For further reading, see our article on how to identify energy infrastructure projects in France:

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3.2. Monitoring Environmental Authority Opinions to Anticipate Demand

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Opinions issued by the MRAE or the CGEDD make it possible to identify future needs of private project developers at a very early stage. Each recommendation related to protected species, wetlands, habitats, cumulative impacts or ecological fragmentation represents a concrete opportunity for specialized environmental consulting firms.

Similarly, photovoltaic projects subject to authorization can be identified upstream. To better understand how to detect these projects, read our article about how to identify photovoltaic projects in France.

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4. How to Set Up an Effective Biodiversity Tender Monitoring System

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The main challenge lies in the extreme fragmentation of sources: BOAMP, regional procurement platforms, buyer profiles, legal notice journals, local authority websites, environmental publications, building permits, Environmental Authority opinions, and more.

An effective biodiversity monitoring strategy must combine:

• public tenders,
  
  
• early-stage signals (deliberations, permits, consultations),
  
  
• Environmental Authority publications,
  
  
• private projects subject to authorization.
  
  

Read our article on the tender monitoring platform.

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Conclusion

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The strengthening of environmental regulations, the growing demands of Environmental Authorities, and the increasing number of projects subject to ecological assessment have made tender monitoring a strategic capability for all biodiversity stakeholders.

Early project identification, understanding regulatory recommendations, monitoring local publications and detecting weak signals are now essential skills for remaining competitive.

A platform such as Deepbloo makes it possible to unify all these sources into a single interface, facilitating search, analysis and anticipation of all biodiversity-related procurement opportunities.

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