Introduction
CONSERVATION AUDITS:
Assessing how well conservation projects are demonstrating
best design and adaptive management practice
In 2002, the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) developed the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (Conservation Standards or CS). This set of guidance and tools represents best practice for conservation project design, management, and learning, driving greater effectiveness and conservation impact. To complement the Conservation Standards and to assess the extent to which they—or compatible organization-specific design and management best practice or standards—were being followed, CMP member organizations also developed the practice of conservation auditing. Conservation auditing, which also could be known as "best practice assessment," is defined as a review of the process and practice of conservation rather than the results achieved. More specifically, a conservation audit is a review of the extent to which the design and management of a conservation project reflect accepted industry-standard best practices.
The primary goal of conservation audits is to increase the likelihood of positive outcomes through an assessment of the design and execution of conservation projects as they adhere to the CS or other similar approaches. Regular and structured conservation audits improve the rigor and effectiveness of conservation projects by increasing the use of accepted sound design and adaptive management practice and, in so doing, reinforcing the credibility of stated results.
Conservation audits can be performed on projects of any scale, from site-based conservation efforts to region-wide geographic programs to programs focused on a particular theme of work (e.g., illegal wildlife trade, global markets, climate change).* Audits also can be used at an organizational level to assess the extent to which an organization is applying best practices across their portfolio Conservation audits can be conducted by project teams themselves (with a facilitator or without), by peer teams, or by externally contracted consultants.
To use the conservation audit tool, we suggest that you read through the instructions before proceeding to downloading and using the tool. Reviewing this information should take no more than 30 minutes. The supporting guidelines also can help with your audit exercise.
As with the array of tools and guidance made available by CMP, these are open source guidelines to be used by anyone wishing to assess and strengthen the quality of design and management of a conservation project. It is also CMP's hope that users will provide feedback on ways to improve this guidance and tool, which would be incorporated into future versions. Please send any input for CMP to audits@conservationmeasures.org.
*For the purpose of these guidelines and tool, the term "project" is used to represent conservation projects, programs, or other types of initiatives.