IKEA has launched a new rainforest research centre in Malaysia, building on more than 25 years of forest restoration work in Sabah.
The Living Rainforest Restoration Lab was launched together with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Sabah Foundation.
The new initiative will shift the long-running project from forest restoration to research and knowledge sharing. Its aim is to develop methods that can support rainforest restoration projects across the tropics.
IKEA has committed to funding the programme for the next 10 years. The lab currently supports 24 research projects led by SLU and Malaysian universities.
The research builds on IKEA’s Sow a Seed initiative, which began in 1998 after founder Ingvar Kamprad proposed restoring degraded rainforest in Borneo.
Since then, partners have restored around 18,500 hectares of forest in Sabah’s Tawau district. Around five million seedlings from 90 native tree species have been planted in areas damaged by logging and forest fires.
According to IKEA, the restored forests have seen the return of wildlife including Bornean pygmy elephants, Bornean orangutans, clouded leopards and hornbills.
The restored area became part of the protected Sungai Tiagau Class 1 Forest Reserve in 2012.
KEA said the new research lab will help turn decades of practical experience into scientific knowledge that can support rainforest restoration projects around the world.
