Consulting
For the past 30 years Form International delivered a broad range of consulting services world-wide to public, private, NGO and financial sector clients.
Our consulting products are pragmatic, high quality studies, plans, assessments and training programs, that lead to concrete results for the client. For example our guidance leads to a certificate, a bankable business plan leads to the next growth step of your project, an investment decision can be made based on our clear due diligence report, our silvicultural advice leads to improved timber quality and growth, our deforestation assessments and monitoring tools assist to ensure deforestation-free business conduct and investments, or you decide to move into a new product or market based on our market study.
In our highly digitalized world, we offer a combination of remote and on-site services supported by combining digital technology and collaboration with local teams. We maintain a wide international network of country experts and specialists (individuals and firms) to deliver fast, cost-efficient, high quality and relevant services to best serve our client’s needs.
Your consultancy assignment
Form International is a leading forestry and climate advisory firm. This is a selection from the wide range of consultancy services we offer:
- Due diligence & Feasibility studies
- Forest inventory and growth & yield optimisation
- Development of business plans
- Plantation Establishment and Management, Nursery establishment and tree breeding
- Environmental and social impact investments
- Reduced Impact Logging
- Certification support (FSC, PEFC, RA/UTZ, Organic) & Timber legality support and assessment (EUTR)
- Business valuations, financial modelling, and development of investment strategies
Form International provides short and long term consulting services in the following expertise areas:
Forestry Investments
Forest & Climate
Forest Landscape Restoration
Forest Management
Certification and Timber Legality
Agroforestry
Certification and Timber legality
Responsible forest management through a certification system is a credible tool to ensure sustainable forestry practices, including social, cultural, ecological, and economic aspects of a forest operation. We offer certification support, training and advice for both forest management and Chain of Custody certification for FSC and PEFC. We support companies to achieve legality certification, e.g. OLB, SmartWood VLC, and offer assistance in the development of standards and Conformity Assessments of (PEFC) standards. The practical implementation of principles and criteria of several certification schemes into daily management, supported with theoretical background regarding origin, structure, management, purpose, and practical implications of the certification scheme is key to our expertise.
Forest Management
Form International has extensive experience with the set-up and management of sustainable (agro)forestry plantations and natural forest management in various countries. The long experience and engagement with projects and companies ensures that up-to-date knowledge and techniques are used also for consulting on plantation and natural forest management. Areas of expertise that we have developed extensively are Growth and Yield modelling, harvest scheduling, forest inventories, management planning, nursery design, Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs), Reduced Impact Logging, various (technical) training programmes, value chain and market studies. We are also specialised in developing R&D programmes especially for tree breeding.
Forest Landscape Restoration
We excel in restoring degraded lands into productive, ecologically, and socially functioning landscapes, always in collaboration with key-stakeholders on all levels. Together with our clients and local partners, whether they are investors, governments, communities, or non-governmental organisations, we pilot and scale-up innovative land use systems and strengthen existing organisational structures to ensure sound and sustainable management of an area. Our landscapes restoration programmes often include the establishment of timber plantations, restoration and protection of natural forests, promotion of assisted natural regeneration, forest and land reclamation, promotion of agroforestry models, carbon credit certification processes and sustainable agriculture. Landscapes managed by Form International deliver economic, ecological, and social return on investment.
“Companies and organizations that have benefitted from our expertise include Unilever, IDH and ETTF.”
Forestry Investments
Form International provides a range of consulting services to investors such as support with project scouting and site selection, feasibility studies, impact studies, independent valuations, due diligence, financial modelling or market studies for forestry and agroforestry investments. Our forest asset valuations are IFRS and IAS41 compliant which we have provided to high profile (listed) companies, investment funds, banks and government bodies. We have carried out valuations for > 2 million hectares of natural forest and > 70,000 hectares of forest plantations worldwide.
Agroforestry
Form International has state-of-the-art tree management knowledge in agroforestry/agricultural settings. Together with farmers and partnering agricultural specialists, we create, pilot, and scale up productive agroforestry systems in which trees often fulfil a long-term role, and annual or perennial crops provide the farmer of direct income. These systems generate a stratified revenue stream for the farmer (short-medium-long-term income), and increase tree cover in the landscape, thus contributing to climate change mitigation and other ecosystem services.
Forest & Climate
The carbon sequestered or stored by (plantation) forests can be commercialized as GHG removals or avoidance through sales on the voluntary carbon market. Form International has been active in this market as developer and consultant since 2000 and is therefore well placed to support the currently fast-growing demand for Nature Climate Solutions (REDD+, ARR, IFM, ALM). We assist companies and organizations that have existing forest projects or intend to start new ones with (pre-)feasibility, design, project design document development, and guidance during validation and verification stages. We have experience with internationally recognised standards (e.g. VCS, CCB, Gold Standard, Plan Vivo). Our added value is design and delivery of high quality projects based on experience with supply and demand side of the market and intricate technical and management knowledge. See also our Treevive accelerator initiative, which you may find interesting to connect to.