Greenpeace has accused the furniture giant Ikea of contributing to the destruction of protected forests in Europe through its supply chains. According to the organization, around 20 activists protested in front of the Ikea store in Hamburg-Altona on Tuesday. Two oversized stick figures in assembly-line outfits "sawed" at trees in the forecourt, while climbers unfurnished a banner on the facade reading "Ikea is furnitureing protected areas." The protest was prompted by research conducted in the Romanian Carpathian Mountains.
Greenpeace claims to have traced the path of timber from a Natura 2000 protected area back to Ikea's supply chain using satellite imagery, logging permits, supply chain analyses, timber depots, and commercial registers. Among the products linked to the destruction are step stools, cooking spoons, and beds. Actor Moritz Jahn accompanied a Greenpeace team to the Carpathian Mountains this summer; there, a roughly 170-year-old deciduous and mixed forest was clear-cut, even though it was located within a protected area and was supposed to be protected from 2030 onward.
According to Greenpeace, Ikea is the world's largest furniture retailer and one of the largest consumers of wood; around 80 percent of its fresh timber comes from Europe, with Germany being its largest market. "Ikea can no longer hide behind its idyllic facade. The company must radically clean up its supply chains. Specifically, this means no more wood from protected forests," said forestry expert Sandra Hieke. Greenpeace points out that Ikea sources almost 98 percent of its wood from FSC-certified sources, but the label does not necessarily protect ecologically valuable forests from industrial logging; Greenpeace Germany withdrew from the certification in 2018. Ikea's sustainability guidelines state "No target" for the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Greenpeace is demanding that Ikea immediately cease using wood from Europe's most ecologically valuable forests until these forests are legally protected. The organization claims to have identified so-called moratorium areas where all logging must be temporarily suspended. Furthermore, Ikea must incorporate concrete, measurable, and binding requirements for species and ecosystem protection into its corporate guidelines. Ikea responded to the investigation by referring to legality and certifications, dismissing the on-site footage. It is estimated that a tree is felled every two seconds worldwide for the production of Ikea furniture; only about ten percent of Romanian forests are older than 120 years, and Romania is estimated to have lost more than half of its old-growth forests in the past 20 years.
