Label Fraud: Ikea And The Forest Stewardship Council Cought Redhanded
Ikea is engaged in destroying primeval forests in Russia.It has the blessing of Russia, no doubt, but it also has the blessing of the eco-label FSC.Ikea and the FSC have come under attack over label fraud in connection with the goings-on in Karelia.Both deny any wrongdoing.Consumers might have another opinion.
The vastness that is Russia contains huge areas of primeval forests invaluable to our climate.Large tracts of these forests have never been touched by human hand.
The boreal forests of Russia constitute an ecological zone which occurs only in the northern hemisphere.They are essential for the preservation of our climate.But they are in danger; the timber industry does the utmost to convert them to bare forests instead.Running with the bad wolfs is an innocent lamb, if you want to believe them: Ikea is felling trees covering 1,350 square miles.To put it in perspective, they are destroying the Yellowstone Caldera.
Ikea’s subsidiary Swedwood Karelia has leased 300,000 hectares of forest in the Russian Republic of Karelia near the border to Finland.The area boasts a high percentage of forest areas that should be conserved.The forests contain a large number of rare plant species included in the red list of endangered species.They are protected even under Russian law.
Research by German state television station ARD and its Swiss counterpart show: The Ikea subsidiary is destroying the forest with heavy machinery.And it comes worse: GPS recordings show that Swedwood Karelia fells primeval forest areas worthy of special protection to the last tree, bush and stump.It seems a curious way to conserve nature.
The wood from these forests is sold in Ikea stores worldwide.Russia is one of the top three timber suppliers for Ikea.The furniture giant is basing its marketing strategies on promises of high environmental standards in terms of the timbers used in production.Ikea's sustainability report reads: "Ikea does not accept illegally harvested timber or timber from intact natural forests."
Ikea’s subsidiary Swedwood even has an FSC certificate.The label attests that they are felling timber in a sustainable way in areas worthy of conservation.Picture proof from Karelia talks another language.
Ikea is sticking to its guns where its promises to customers are concerned but will run an internal check.They promise that if there are irregularities, they promise to take action.The case is now down to semantics where Ikea is concerned.
FSC International (Forest Stewardship Council) wants to reassess the case Swedwood because of the allegations of the two television companies.The certification body doesn’t even bother to deny that Swedwood is destroying an area worthy of conservation.It stated that Swedwood Karelia is protecting up to 35 per cent of forests with high conservation value.According to the FSC, that's more than any other company in Karelia.
To say it in plain English: The ecological and sustainable wood sold by Ikea is coming to at least 65 per cent from an unsustainable and non-ecological source.How well it deserves a label for sustainable and ecological timber sourcing.
Can anyone rely on the FSC certificate at all? It is obvious that companies want to penetrate into intact forest and areas worthy of conservation, too.Thanks to the FSC certificate, they then are able to sell the wood on the European market as coming from sustainable and ecological sources.It is an issue that may be resolved by a public vote.You vote by buying or not buying at Ikea.If you want to pay higher prices for a marketing ploy called FSC certificate is up to you alone.
Sources and further reading:
FSC International - Homepage
Ikea - Homepage
Swedwood - Homepage
Karelia - Wikipedia