ProForest is ideally positioned to carry out research to inform policy development; we offer a unique team of highly respected individuals, who are both highly educated - with a great capacity for analysis and incisive thinking - and yet also experienced practitioners, who have worked in the field in diverse global settings, and always have the practical applicability and workability in mind, when engaged in policy and strategy development. ProForest has undertaken applied research and aided policy development in partnership with or on behalf of a wide range of organisations, including NGOs, companies, governments, multilaterals, banks and research institutions.

Technical support for policy development and strategy

ProForest can assist with the development of policy at all levels from intergovernmental processes to individual governments.

International policy: ProForest’s unique combination of in depth understanding and practical experience have proved extremely useful in a number of international policy discussions. ProForest plays the role of technical advisor or discussion facilitator, helping to guide development which meets both political and practical needs.

National policy development:

ProForest has supported a range of national policy processes related to natural resource management ranging from public procurement policy to national programmes for conservation planning. ProForest focuses on ensuring that policies are designed to deliver desired outcomes and that they are practical and implementable in practice.

 Policy and strategy for individual organisations: Drawing on its international experience, ProForest also plays an important role in the development of policies and strategies for individual companies or NGOs. As always, ProForest’s role is technical, providing the training, information and understanding required to ensure that the policies developed are effective, credible and workable.

Conservation policy development: ProForest works with the development and implementation of conservation strategy, particularly within productive landscapes, for example using the High Conservation Values (HCV) concept, to support decision making on landscape level planning, forest management and forest conversion to agriculture (whether by private land owners, concession holders, conservation organizations or government).

Developing Practical Tools for the implementation of Policy:

ProForest can help develop practical tools for the application of policy in practice; eg. via the development of toolkits, manuals, or briefing notes for achieving policy commitments to sustainable production, procurement and use of natural resources. Our experience in the field, and our broad range of partners and alliances around the world, ensures that the material we produce is practical and user-friendly.

Applied Research: We are ideally placed to carry out research to inform policy development and to analyze how successful a given policy has been. Many of our staff have an academic research background, - all our project staff have higher degrees - while our practical approach ensures that the presentation of our work is clear and focused. 

Training: As with our other services, training can be build-in to any policy development work; we can support capacity building among people responsible for policy implementation to strengthen commitments to sustainability.