The last primary, old-growth and other high conservation forests of Europe are in danger. In Romania, the furniture giant resorts to intensive commercial logging and destructive practices even in protected areas.
Through Ingka Investments, IKEA owns more than 51,000 hectares of forest in Romania (the equivalent of over 70,000 football fields). This includes old-growth and other high biodiversity forests which should be protected as nature conservation areas of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in line with the EU Habitats and Birds Directives. Species such as brown bears, wolves and lynxes live here. Despite this, IKEA is intensively logging in these forests, for example in the Penteleu protected area in central Romania. The Bruno Manser Fonds was able to see this for itself on site.
The new investigative report "IKEA. Smart Outside, Rotten Inside" of the Bruno Manser Fonds and Agent Green reveals a consistent pattern of destructive logging and poor forestry practices in the forests owned by Ingka and those feeding the IKEA supply chain in Romania. The documented issues include large-scale clearcuts in high biodiversity forests, intensive commercial logging conducted in ecologically sensitive or even old-growth forests without environmental assessments, the lack of natural forest regeneration after logging, severe soil erosion - with massive consequences for nature and climate. Many of these forests are located within or near Natura 2000 sites and other protected areas.
Help stop the destruction of Europe's most valuable forests and sign our petition to IKEA. Logging in Romania's Natura 2000 areas and other high conservation value forests must stop now!
Report: IKEA. Smart Outside, Rotten Inside
