Did That IKEA Bookcase Cost The Ruin Of An Ancient Forest?
It seems that something more sinister may lie behind IKEA’s minimalism and meatballs. Despite the company’s sustainability-touting slogan of “We Love Wood” the Guardian reports that an international alliance of NGOs has condemned IKEA for its role in destroying ancient Russian forests.
Field reports from conservation group Protect the Forest, Sweden and Russian environmental organization SPOK have found Swedwood, IKEA’s own subsidiary industrial group, responsible for clear-cutting forests with trees up to 600 years old. But it’s not only the age that matters—along with harboring significant biodiversity, old-growth forests serve as invaluable “carbon sinks” by sucking up carbon dioxide and working against the process of climate change.
That’s why a representative from the Global Forest Coalition, an alliance of NGOs from more than 40 countries, has urged that legal action be leveled against the furniture manufacturer.
“Whoever is responsible for this destruction, in this case the owners of IKEA and Swedwood, must be held responsible for the social and environmental costs of their companies’ actions. I suggest Protect the Forest and SPOK should consider all possible options, including legal action against IKEA, in order to correct the situation,” Simone Lovera, executive director of the Global Forest Coalition, stated in a press release.
It makes a person think twice before lusting after that combination CD shelf/bookcase.