{"id":86369,"date":"2026-10-13T11:39:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T09:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=86369"},"modified":"2026-10-13T13:44:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T11:44:00","slug":"we-are-losing-forests-biodiversity-ikea-is-part-of-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/86369\/we-are-losing-forests-biodiversity-ikea-is-part-of-the-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"We are losing biodiversity by the minute, and Ikea is still part of the problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2022, nearly 200 countries came together and agreed on the<strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unep.org\/resources\/kunming-montreal-global-biodiversity-framework\">Global Biodiversity Framework<\/a>, a multilateral agreement with a clear message: our natural world is in deep trouble, and we have to save it. The countries set a target to protect 30% of the planet\u2019s land and oceans by 2030.\u00a0 This was meant to do for nature what the 1.5\u00b0C goal of the Paris Agreement does for our climate. But the latest global assessment of the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/world-falling-short-on-22-of-23-nature-targets-for-2030-says-draft-un-report\">falls short of reducing mass extinction of species.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"974\" title=\"Beauty of the Carpathian Forest in Romania\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/0079fc06-gp1stox1.jpg\" alt=\"Trees in Romanian forest.\" class=\"wp-image-86393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/0079fc06-gp1stox1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/0079fc06-gp1stox1-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/0079fc06-gp1stox1-1024x831.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/0079fc06-gp1stox1-768x623.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/0079fc06-gp1stox1-419x340.jpg 419w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">Carpathian forest in Romania.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Mitja  Kobal \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aside from ensuring a liveable environment on our shared planet, protecting biodiversity should be in the core interest of big businesses to secure longer-term prosperity. We are therefore holding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/press-release\/86358\/greenpeace-report-ikea-wood-destroys-europes-precious-forests\/\">Ikea<\/a> and other companies accountable to step up and lead by example to be part of the solution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Problem: They are all moving too slowly<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While politicians move at a snails pace to write these goals into law, destruction hasn&#8217;t paused. Logging companies are still cutting down trees in the very places proposed for future protection. Right in the middle of this is Ikea, the world&#8217;s biggest furniture store, which sells itself as green and sustainable. And yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/sweden\/publikationer\/greenpeace\/the-missing-manual\/\">wood from some of Europe\u2019s precious and most biodiverse forests is ending up on its shelves<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" title=\"Protest in IKEA store in Warsaw\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/03759180-gp0su6qub.jpg\" alt=\"Greenpeace activists hung a huge banner above the entrance to the IKEA store in Janki near Warsaw with the slogan &quot;We don&#039;t want furniture made from these trees&quot;, showing a photo of a stump from a felled beech tree of a monumental size as well as hand banners inside the store reading &quot;No IKEA furniture from precious forests!&quot;.\" class=\"wp-image-86408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/03759180-gp0su6qub.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/03759180-gp0su6qub-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/03759180-gp0su6qub-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/03759180-gp0su6qub-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/03759180-gp0su6qub-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">Greenpeace activists at an IKEA store near Warsaw, Poland<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Tomasz Kaczor<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Forests we can&#8217;t get back<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This isn&#8217;t just a hypothetical threat. It is happening right now. In Romania, a precious forest was set to become a strictly protected zone. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/romania\/articol\/81019\/lansare-raport-ikea\/\">But loggers got there first and clear-cut the forest before any legal protection could be established.<\/a> That forest and its biodiversity is now gone. It will take hundreds of years for that ecosystem to grow back. Now, the land has been removed from the protection list, as there is no longer any forest left to protect.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" title=\"Activist Bears Witness to Forest Destruction in the Romanian Carpathians\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/cc396fd5-gp0su6o4q.jpg\" alt=\"A Greenpeace activist bears witness to the ancient Rusca Montan\u0103 forest destruction in the Romanian Carpathians.\" class=\"wp-image-86405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/cc396fd5-gp0su6o4q.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/cc396fd5-gp0su6o4q-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/cc396fd5-gp0su6o4q-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/cc396fd5-gp0su6o4q-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/10\/cc396fd5-gp0su6o4q-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Greenpeace activist bears witness to forest destruction in the Romanian Carpathians.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What needs to happen now<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This destruction has to stop.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/sweden\/pressmeddelanden\/greenpeace\/the-missing-manual\/\">We are demanding Ikea immediately stop buying wood from some of Europe\u2019s most valuable forests.<\/a> These areas must be saved from exploitation and officially protected by law. To facilitate this, Greenpeace offices have mapped out these critical zones. There is no guesswork\u2014Ikea knows exactly where not to log. As the biggest player in the game, Ikea has the power to change everything. If they step up and stop buying from these forests, the rest of the industry will follow, forcing politicians to finally act.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We need to protect these forests today, before more and more of them vanish forever.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Frida Bengtsson is the Head of Programme with Greenpeace Nordic in Sweden<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While politicians move at a snails pace to write protections into law, destruction hasn&#8217;t paused. Logging companies are still cutting down trees in the very places proposed for future protection. Right in the middle of this is Ikea, the world&#8217;s biggest furniture store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":86383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_seo_meta_title":"","p4_seo_meta_description":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[84],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-86369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-forests","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86369"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86423,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86369\/revisions\/86423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86369"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=86369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}