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IKEA announces that it does not accept the use of wood from virgin and quasi-virgin forests, protected by law, in the company's products and rejects Greenpeace's accusations, stating that they create confusion through the different interpretation of the notions of "mature forests" and "primary forests".
"We carefully analyzed the Greenpeace report for Romania, published on April 10, and we completely disagree with the way Ikea is represented in this study, which claims that wood from virgin and semi-virgin forests, protected by law, ends up in Ikea furniture pieces. Without exception, we do not accept the use of wood from virgin and quasi-virgin forests, protected by law, in our products", reads a reaction of the company sent at the request of AGERPRES.
In this context, the Swedish retailer shows that sustained protection is necessary, from everyone, in order to avoid damage to the naturalness of forests and biodiversity, and mentions that it has encouraged an open and transparent dialogue on this topic.
"Therefore, we reject the allegations presented in the report, as the information presented creates confusion by interpreting the notions of 'mature forests' and 'primary forests' differently. The Greenpeace report suggests that the age of the trees is the only criterion to define virgin forests. However, there are several criteria for defining virgin forests, age being only one of them. According to the legislation applicable in Romania and the FSC forest management certification standard, the criteria for identifying virgin and quasi-virgin forests include, but are not limited to, disturbance or management level, the composition of the species in the forest, the presence of all stages of development of the forest, the proportion of trees at the physiological age limit, the presence of dead wood in all stages of decomposition and others," explained the cited source.
According to IKEA, virgin and quasi-virgin forests represent a category of forests with high conservation value, and their protection is part of the requirements of the company's supplier code of conduct (IWAY) regarding forestry.
"As our wood is FSC certified, all supply chains and forests are subject to annual checks by FSC-accredited certification bodies - chain of custody and forest management audits. In addition to these audits, IKEA annually carries out several forestry audits and audits of the wood supply chain," shows the document sent by the company.
The environmental organization Greenpeace accused the Swedish retailer on Wednesday of being involved in the destruction of ancient forests in Romania for the production of furniture, DPA reported.
Greenpeace says that its teams have followed the trajectory of wood from Romanian forests to IKEA store shelves using cutting certificates, satellite images and timber warehouses.
