Swedish group Ikea, which has bought 36,000 hectares of woodland in Romania through the local company IRI Investments, has started the certification process of its forests.

An independent organization will carry out the audit, which will evaluate if the owner complies with international principles of responsible forest management.

As part of the certification process, the company needs to organize a series of public consultations in the local communities where it owns properties, reports local Economica.net.

Until now, Ikea has organized two such regional consultations in Focsani and Roman, through the local company IRI Forest Management, which manages Ikea’s forests in Romania. In these consultations, the company presented its principles, standards, and operating mode, and asked the interested people to help it identify the highly preserved forests, that should be protected. These forests have a high biodiversity and are important for the communities.

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