Conservation Audit Guidelines and Tool (2020)

Updated to reflect Version 3.0 released in December 2020.

Developed and maintained by the CMP Conservation Audits Working Group, the Conservation Audit Guidelines and Tool facilitate an efficient analysis of a project or program’s design and adaptive management practice. It generates summary reports and provides a template to develop a management response. The tool also supports up to 5 audits to help users arrive at a multi-project or organizational audit assessment. Use the Conservation Audit Guidelines and Tool to increase the likelihood of positive outcomes by:

• Assessing project design and adaptive management against the best practices in the Conservation Standards;
• Identifying a clear set of priorities for strengthening the design and management of the project.

The audit tool is designed to be flexible and user-friendly:

• Deep familiarity with the Conservation Standards isn’t needed (working through the audit tool is actually a great way to orient a team to the Standards);
• Audits can be performed on projects or programs of any type or size;
• An audit can be completed in a participatory process in a few hours;
• Content of the audit tool can be adapted to align with organizational terminology and frameworks;
• The CMP Audit Guidelines and Tool provides detailed guidelines and leads you through the process.

Citation: Conservation Measures Partnership Version 3.0 (2020) Conservation Audit Tool and Guidance. CMP