The Dutch Forestry Commission uses external audits to verify its internal audits, which are a quality-control measure within the administrative system that pertains to the management of properties belonging to the Forestry Commission.
The project consisted of an audit of the Elswout Estate, a Forestry Commission showpiece, and a report, which covered the following points:

1. The realization of predetermined objectives (a comparison of the situation as planned in the past with the present situation) and the establishment of the cause of any deviations.
2. The development of natural and recreational resources in terms of progress and decline (a comparison of the present situation with the initial situation).
3. The adequacy of the internal quality-control evaluation with respect to: 1) adjustment of management and 2) accountability.
4. (If applicable): A critique of the quality of new planning or, in the absence of such, recommendations pertaining to 1) potentially desirable changes in objectives to be achieved, 2) management steps to be implemented and 3) the evaluation of necessary data-gathering in the coming administrative period.
5. Recommendations with respect to the Forestry Commission’s administrative system.

The client specifically requested an insight into the significance of Dutch cultural history in relation to the landscape, to the human use and perception of the landscape, and to the relationship between nature and culture. The auditor was also asked to concentrate on the following points of interest:

• Based on Dutch cultural history, where should boundaries be drawn with respect to (the development of) the function held by nature (existing woodlands, for example)?
• How can the international significance of Elswout be enhanced?
• Should access to the estate be changed – in relation, for example, to the National Park – and, if so, how?
• The possible use of the Gate Building as both information centre and, in relation to the National Park, as public space.
• The relationship between the loan of the Great House and the Orangery, and the preservation, restoration and development of the value and importance of the estate.

The results of the audit showed that the system used by the Forestry Commission does not allow for the appraisal of cultural-historical values, even though the organization sees the park as an important cultural-historical ensemble. In other words, the present administration is not in sync with verifiable interpretations of history. All this is taking place, moreover, without consideration for current thinking on national heritage, cultural history, restoration, renovation and management of country estates in the Netherlands and abroad. The audit also concluded that the Forestry Commission has rather old-fashioned ideas on developments pertaining to historical landscape architecture. This conclusion led to long discussions, a justification of the auditor’s findings and a written explanation from the Forestry Commission, which opted for a follow-up study.