Forests for People

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debarking, therefore minimizing any problems to the

tree’s condition.

Cork oak woodlands, provider of multiple goods

and services

Traditionally, agriculture and grazing have taken

place under the canopy of the cork oak forests, whose

fruits and leaves are used as fodder by cattle. Its wood

is hard and rather difficult to work by carpentry, but

it is excellent as firewood. Nowadays the system is

becoming even more complex, and the range of goods

and services has been broadening: game, aromatic

herbs, beekeeping, mushroom picking, bird watch-

ing, horse riding and all kinds of nature tourism and

leisure activities associated with rural areas are done

in parallel to the traditional grain crop, pasture or

forage farming.

One might expect that an ecosystem that is so

much linked with human intervention would have a

poor record regarding biodiversity. On the contrary,

these multipurpose systems host many species and

have considerable biodiversity benefits. This is

mainly due to the particular landscape pattern: we

often find open spaces alternating with more closed

areas, different density of trees, patches of different

crops, fallow land and bushes. Within a few hundred

metres one can find various species of fauna, due to

the micro-habitats or new niches provided by the

patches’ distribution. Certain prey birds are particu-

What exactly is cork?

Cork is the bark of the cork oak (

Quercus suber

). It is unlike the

bark of other oaks, as it has unique and specific physical and chemi-

cal characteristics, particularly with regard to its cellular structure

and chemical composition, which also confer special properties on

it. Cork floats, is waterproof, has elasticity and flexibility, and is a

good acoustic and thermal insulation material. Furthermore, the

cork oak is one of the few trees that can survive after being debarked

and regenerate a new bark, so the harvest of cork is a sustainable

use of the trees.

Cork is an extraordinary protector of the tree against forest fire,

and its properties make it the best material for its most distinguished

product, the cork stopper. Now used worldwide in the most famous

wine bottles, it is interesting to note that the use of cork stoppers

started in the mid-18th century, when the famous Don Pierre

Pérignon, from the Hautvillers Abbey in France, discovered this

material and started to use it to seal Champagne bottles.

The exploitation system on which the economy of the cork oak

forest relies is based on harvesting part of the bark every nine years.

Through an initial incision that does not reach the inner bark, the

cork is released. This operation is done in late spring and early

summer, but always guided by actual meteorological conditions, so

that the phellogen is active and the cork can be detached without

damaging the tree. A new bark grows and nine years later is ready

to be deployed.

The nine year cycle is due to both economic and ecological

reasons: nine years is the minimum (average) period for cork to be

thick enough to produce a good cork stopper, but is also the period

recommended by the tree physiology to recover from the stress of

Cork is piled in fields to dry after harvesting

Cork trees are among few species that can thrive despite the

removal of bark

Image: Fernando Lopes