At Verdens Skove, they dedicate their time to helping ensure that the planet – and its population – can continue to enjoy green oases in the future. As part of this important work, employees use Intempus daily to report from the world's jungles and ancient forests.
The Amazon, which is burning. Danish forests, which are being felled. Forest, which is turning into farmland. Around the world, large, old forests are threatened – these are challenges that require a group of people to use their time, resources, and skills to fight for the survival of the forests.
Every month, we at Intempus see how many hours are dedicated to protecting the world's forests. Literally.
Verdens Skove uses Intempus to report from all the places in the world where they are fighting for the survival of green oases.
In six countries, Uganda, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, Verdens Skove (The World Forests) helps to improve the living standards of the population by ensuring they utilise the forest in a sustainable manner.
“We teach them about the economically sustainable use of natural resources, how they can harvest from the forest in a sustainable way, and at the same time, how they can establish agroforestry so it also benefits them personally. Among other things, they learn that clean water and protection against erosion are also some of the benefits that come with forests," says Mette Vinqvist, country coordinator at Verdens Skove.
Control of timers and sponsorship money
From the six countries – and the head office in Honduras – the employees out in the field submit reports, which greatly help the employees back in Denmark.
Previously, the work of Verdens Skov was 100 percent dependent on funding from the Danish state. Now, that figure is below 50 percent, which means there are many other sponsors involved – increasing the demands on Verdens Skov for documentation of its work.
“It is very important for us to be able to keep track of how we use our hours. We need to know who we should invoice our hours to. Therefore, it is important that the employee, for example, who is in Bolivia, can register whether the four hours have been used on, for instance, a DANIDA project or an EU-funded project. They all have documentation requirements,” says Mette Vinqvist.
This is why all the reports registered with Verdens Skove each month help to ensure that both tasks and money from sponsors are aligned. This requires Verdens Skove to be able to record time at a relatively precise level – an option that Intempus provides.
The easy accessibility of the app also means that employees around the world register their hours immediately, so they don't later find themselves unsure whether they spent three or four hours on the project in Uganda.
Simultaneously, it gives employees back in Denmark the opportunity to constantly have an updated overview of how many hours have been spent on projects in the various countries.
“So instead of me having to call André, who's in Bolivia, to ask how many hours he's spent on my project in Uganda, I can call our finance controller, who constantly has the updated figures. It gives me a quick overview,” says Mette Vinqvist, explaining that previously it could take many hours to find the same figures, as she'd first have to call the person on a distant continent, they'd have to go home and check their spreadsheet, and then call her back – across time zones," she recounts.
A trustworthy decision-making tool
In addition to Intempus helping Verdens Skove save time, they also find that the system is a good source of valuable knowledge.
Verdens Skove uses Intempus as an management tool and decision-making tool when evaluating how work to acquire new donors has progressed and how much time has been spent on it.
“If we don’t have an overview of how many hours we’ve spent acquiring that donor, then it’s difficult to know how much we’re getting out of it in relation to paid time,” says Mette Vinqvist.
And Mette Vinqvist also finds that the use of Intempus lightens many administrative tasks:
“We can quickly get updated reports on resource consumption, which then makes our budgeting and budget management easier. In general, it means we get a much faster response time in relation to reporting and planning.” – Mette Vinqvist, Country Coordinator at Verdens Skove
A personal gain
Intempus and digital time tracking have made everyday life easier for Verdens Skove's employees, who are spread across distant continents. This gives them more time to make a real difference where the forests are at risk.
“A lot of the hours registered in Intempus are spent on professional advice for locals in the areas. Among other things, they help locals with knowledge on how best to grow coffee and how they can use the same land for multiple crops,” says Mette Vinqvist.
“This means they receive a different price for it and at the same time get a more diverse agroforestry system. In addition, they also have more crops to fall back on if, for example, there is a drought. This provides a more stable economic basis for the farmers, and furthermore, it also means that it's not quite such a big gamble to cultivate the piece of land they already have. We teach them to utilise the land they have as best as possible, so they don't need to clear more forest,” she says.
For the employees, it also holds great personal value when they finish their work and send the report home to the office in Denmark.
“Everyone is passionate about helping to save the world’s forests or assisting people who depend on them. Everyone is out there getting their boots muddy where it counts, and people are very professionally engaged. Over time, they can also see that a difference is being made. That’s a strong motivator,” says Mette Vinqvist.
