OREANDA-NEWS. July 02, 2012. The wholly owned IKEA subsidiary, Swedwood, has recently been receiving harsh criticism for logging “old growth”, or “high conservation value forests”(HCVF) in Russia’s Karelia forest (which coincidentally are very much similar to Canada’s boreal forests).

IKEA is refuting these allegations and has made statements that they are fully committed to producing and distributing wood products from “responsibly managed forests”, as The Los Angeles Times reported in the issue.

IKEA’s forestry manager has come out and made a public statement. He is quoted in the Lost Angeles Times stating that there are indeed HCVF in Northern Karelia, however, they are taking extra precaution and have been working with NGO’s to ensure that their work conducted in the area is up to Russian FSC standards. IKEA even went out of their way to voluntarily excise 17% of their leased land due to their belief that the area was ‘too sensitive’.

The basis of the environmentalist's charges appears to be in the definition of ‘high conservation value forests’ and varying FSC certification standards. What is important to note is that the IKEA forestry manager has stated, “I would welcome the FSC to initiate a control audit from their accreditation body so that there’s no doubt that we are following the Russian FSC standard. Because we are committed to doing that.”

Scandinavians have worked for decades to build a reputation for their logging practices. After intensive agriculture, logging practices and ill informed reforestation practices, Scandinavian forests are now renowned for their ability to be regenerated thanks to the innovation and hard work of Scandinavian foresters.