Inter IKEA Group has partnered with BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (TIG) on a forest restoration project in Brazil as part of its $108 million commitment to global carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and long-term climate action.
As the first initiative under IKEA’s global nature-based CDR pledge, the Brazil-based project will dedicate efforts to restore and manage 4,000 hectares of degraded land in the Atlantic Forest biome.
The initiative will include conservation, restoration, and commercial forestry activities across the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina, where it will serve to demonstrate the symbiotic relationship between reforestation and sustainable land management.
Once known as a lively ecosystem covering a territory of over 1.3 million square kilometers, the Atlantic Forest in Brazil is currently reduced to approximately 13% of its original size.
Aiming to address this alarming issue, the IKEA and BTG Pactual Timberland partnership will protect and restore portions of this landscape, reforesting degraded pastureland and managing other parcels as productive pine plantations certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards.
These pine farms, in turn, will create employment opportunities in the area, as well as raw material production operations, helping generate funding streams for restoration and conservation.
The project will store carbon in both soil and biomass, and to track the CO2 sequestration and ecosystem impact, the developers will rely on independent verification that will ensure transparency and credibility in the reported results.
Additionally, the project will be monitored by an independent advisory panel composed of experts from local and international NGOs, including Apremavi—one of Brazil’s most prominent environmental NGOs working on restoration and sustainability in the Atlantic Rainforest and other biomes.
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This panel will measure the project’s impact and community engagement, helping establish scientific partnerships, biodiversity baselines, and the achieved social outcomes from this initiative.
For IKEA, this project aligns with the company’s ambition of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half across its value chain by 2030, compared to a 2016 baseline.
By 2050, IKEA intends to reach net-zero through emission reductions and scaled investments in natural carbon sinks, as well as sustainably sourced materials.
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