Cork Sheets

From cork oak to cork

In the summer months, the sky above the cork oak forests is almost cloudless. For centuries, Mediterranean farmers have been peeling the bark of Quercus suber, the cork oak, in sweltering heat. A form of agriculture that, since Dom Pierre Pérignon introduced corks for champagne and wine at the beginning of the 17th century, gradually established itself alongside agriculture and animal husbandry in the cork oak regions.

Oak trees must grow for at least twenty to thirty years before they can be peeled for the first time. With a height of 1.50 m, they had to have a circumference of at least 70 cm.

The harvest time is nine years. Skilled workers climb trees sweaty and tanned. A worker strategically selects a crack in the bark with the tip of his sharp axe. Targeted cuts penetrate the oak bark. A second worker peels the cork bark off the trunk with skillful tearing and slow movements, if possible without breaking the bark or damaging the tree. The larger the severed piece, the more valuable it is for cork making. It's hot midday. The cicadas are chirping.

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The cork oak is one of the 150 endemic tree species in this biotope

The cork oak is one of the 150 endemic tree species in this biotope. It is the only tree on earth whose bark can be peeled without damaging it - almost as if it was made for it. Cork oak, whose bark is regularly harvested, binds more than three times more CO2 than unused cork oak. With an area of around 2.3 million hectares in Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and France, Mediterranean cork oak forests bind around fourteen million tonnes of CO2 per year. Cork oaks in Portugal alone account for almost five percent of the country's CO 2 emissions.

Cork oaks also provide protection against soil erosion and thus help preserve the soil. They increase the rate of rainwater infiltration into the soil and replenish the groundwater reservoir, making them essential to the region's water supply as they use much less water than eucalyptus or maritime pine. They provide protection against forest fires thanks to the fire resistance of cork.

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The cork oak forests are a refuge for some endangered animal species

The cork oak forests are a refuge for some endangered animal species, such as the Iberian lynx, which has only about 100 specimens of the earl, the Spanish imperial eagle or the black vulture.

The endangered Barbary deer lives in Algerian and Tunisian cork forests. These biotopes are also transit stations for migratory birds and wintering grounds, e.g. B. around 60,000 cranes in Extremadura, Spain. Along with the Strait of Messina and the Bosphorus, the Strait of Gibraltar is a "major transportation hub" for bird migration to and from Africa.

Cork oak forests provide a livelihood for more than 100,000 people. In Portugal alone, more than 28,052 people are employed in the cork sector. Sustainable economy: care for the environment is also essential from an economic point of view. In the highly productive forests of Portugal, the average yield is 200 to 250 kg of cork per hectare.

This is 45 kg of cork per harvest for cork oak. For some exceptional trees, the yield is much higher. For example, the Whistler Tree, the oldest and largest cork oak in Portugal, was first felled in 1820 and has since been felled 20 times. It produced 1,200 kg during the harvest in 1920 and 650 kg in 2000. Cork oaks can live over 250 years.

Cork Sheets

The first crop, known as “Desbóia” in Portugal, produces cork with an irregular structure

The cork oak is one of the 150 endemic tree species in this biotope

The cork oak forests are a refuge for some endangered animal species

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