We offer stand-alone audit visits, or can develop a long-term programme which includes elements of capacity building and management improvements. Many of our staff have worked as professional auditors within accredited certification systems and bring this experience and training into our monitoring and internal auditing work; over half of our staff and associates are trained as lead auditors. ProForest has a multi-disciplinary team of specialists which allows us to develop an individual solution to meet clients’ needs, through our team-based, inter-disciplinary approach.

Baseline assessments

We offer baseline audits which allow organizations to asses the degree to which their current management conforms to any natural resource or supply chain standards, whether international, national or local.  We provide a comprehensive, confidential report detailing strengths and weaknesses, and making recommendations for changes to meet the required standard. We can also provide feedback through presentations or seminars which can be designed for management or field workers as required.

Action Plan development

On the basis of baseline audits we can work with organisations to develop clear, practical action plans for any gaps identified. Our experience as practitioners, and not just auditors, guides us in ensuring that our recommendations are practical, realistic and cost-effective, and are made on the basis of discussions with workers and management and a thorough understanding of the standards and degrees of compliance required by the major responsible production standards and certification schemes worldwide.

Ongoing monitoring

We can design, implement and run customised programmes of verification to check for improvements in performance in relation to agreed objectives, or a specific standard. This can be a stand-alone service, or can be combined with broader support to an organization to improve their environmental, social or economic performance, with a package of support such as in-house capacity building, management strengthening, and systems revisions.

Supplier audits

ProForest undertakes supplier audit programmes for a range of clients to check compliance with specific requirements, such as purchasing policies, legality or baseline criteria.  The results are presented in a comprehensive report which sets out any issues identified and, if requested, options for improvement.

Supply chain (chain of custody) audits

ProForest can undertake audits throughout the supply chain to check that supply chain controls such as segregation or mass balance are being implemented in practice.