Edgars Baranovs
Edgars role includes providing advisory services to businesses in the biomass, timber, palm oil, textiles, soy, beef and other natural resource sectors to support them in their goals to meet sustainability commitments and legal requirements. In addition, Edgars supports the provision of Forest Stewardship CouncilTM (FSCTM) Chain of Custody, FSC Controlled Wood and Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) certification audits, as well as delivering EU Timber Regulation due diligence services in Latvia and beyond.
Edgars works with a range of companies in order to meet their legal requirements as well as sustainability commitments when sourcing forest linked commodities. He provides advisory, auditing and project management services in the Tailored Services department.
Edgars tasks are policy development and alignment, different certification scheme benchmarking activities, gap analysis of client sustainability systems, supply chain engagement (including the development and implementation of traceability and mapping systems, as well as risk assessments) and procedural development. Additionally, he carries out commodity or country-level risk assessments and offers specialised trainings.
As a sustainability specialist, in the field of auditing, Edgars undertakes desk and on-site audits of organisations, evaluating them against various checklists of criteria and indicators. He conducts audits in accordance with customised standards, performs verification audits for factories, mills, and forest or farm operations, and reviews internal auditing programs within companies.
Edgars also supports the provision of FSC Chain of Custody, FSC Controlled Wood and Sustainable Biomass Program certification audits in Europe.
"From my earliest memories, I've had a strong bond with the outdoors. While studying, it became clear that my real passion was dedicating my life to environmental causes. I truly believe that even the smallest steps toward harmonising nature, business, and people can improve the world. This belief fuels my work at Preferred by Nature, where I contribute to these goals daily. I focus on forestry, sustainability, and environmental protection. I've also gathered significant experience in project management and environmental certification over time."
- Project management, focusing on timber and biomass commodities
- FSC – Chain of Custody, Controlled Wood and Forest management auditing
- PEFC Chain of Custody auditing
- SBP auditing
- SURE-EU auditing
- All kinds of forest survey, measuring and maping
- International expierience
- Bsc.silv. in Forest Science
- Mg.nat.sc in Environmental Sciences
- Languages: Latvian, English, Russian, beginner German
