CORUCHE, Portugal– The balanced sound of axes whacking trees echoes in the depths of the cork oak forest.
In Coruche, a rural location south of the Tagus River understood as Portugal’s “cork capital,” the bang of trees falling to the ground does not follow the noise of the ax strokes. Rather, skilled employees thoroughly peel away the bark from the tree trunks.
This yearly rite of drawing out cork in the summertime has actually been around for countless years in the western Mediterranean. Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Romans utilized the product to make fishing equipment, shoes and to seal containers, containers and barrels. As glass bottles got appeal in the 18th century, cork ended up being the favored sealant since it is resilient, water resistant, light and flexible.
Now cork is experiencing a revival as more markets search for sustainable options to plastic and other products originated from nonrenewable fuel sources. The bark is now utilized for floor covering and furnishings, to make shoes and clothing and as insulation in homes and electrical cars and trucksPortugal’s exports reached an all-time high of 670 million euro ($728 million) in the very first half of 2023.
Cork is more than a stylish green product. In addition to tasks, the forests where it grows offer food and shelter for animals, all while sequestering co2. And unlike a lot of trees grown commercially, cork oaks are never ever reduced, implying their carbon storage capability continues through the 200 years or more they live.
How cork is gathered
With a company swing, Fernando Tacha strikes the trunk of a cork oak, then twists his ax and utilizes the deal with to delicately prise the slab.
“I began cutting cork when I was just 19. Now I’m 69. I will do this as long as I can,” he states as he cleans the sweat from his forehead. “It’s a tough task, however a gorgeous one.”
A low, slow-growing evergreen tree, the cork oak is endemic to the Mediterranean. The most comprehensive forests can be discovered on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. In Portugal, the world’s biggest cork manufacturer, the oaks are so valued they were selected as the nation’s nationwide tree and are secured by law, so it’s prohibited to cut them. Spain is the second-largest manufacturerfollowed by Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Italy and France.
The procedure of gathering cork takes accuracy and years of practice. The stroke of the ax should be strong, however likewise fragile to prevent striking the inner bark and harming the tree. Since it is so specialized, it’s one of the very best paying farming tasks in Portugal.
The bark can just be collected in between late May and August, when the tree remains in its active stage of development, that makes it much easier to remove the external layer without harming the tree trunk.
The cork oak is special in its capability to restore its bark. Once it is eliminated, employees compose the last variety of that year with white paint on the exposed golden brown trunk– a 3 suggests it was collected in 2023. The bark will gradually grow back and be prepared for another harvest after 9 years.
Paula Salgueira, who has actually been operating in the cork harvest in Coruche for 35 years, extends her hand to touch an oak that was simply removed. “It’s cold,” she states as she touches the smooth denuded trunk. While axmen operate in sets eliminating the cork, Salgueira and a couple of other females collect the slabs in stacks for transport.
The slabs will then be stacked outdoors in storage locations exposed to air and sunshine. After 6 months of aging to get rid of wetness, they will be arranged according to their density and quality, then boiled to tidy pollutants and make the product softer and much easier to manage.
From bottle stopper to green product
While a lot of cork is still utilized for bottle stoppers, over the last years various markets have actually been discovering brand-new usages for it.
“We are seeing a growing interest in cork as a sustainable product,” states Rui Novais, a products professional at the University of Aveiro in Portugal. “Compared with products like polyurethane foam [used for thermal insulation]items made with cork need less energy and produce less CO2 emissions.”
The cork oak’s thick bark adjusted to protect the tree from fire, making it an effective insulating product that’s been utilized to protect fuel tanks on NASA spacecraft and electrical vehicle batteries. It’s likewise resistant to water and oil, and can stand up to compression while keeping springiness.
“It’s a remarkable, eco-friendly and eco-friendly product,” states Novais. “It’s likewise really long lasting. It has actually been shown that cork items stay practically the same for more than 50 years.”
Part of the carbon taken in by cork oak trees is moved to cork items, which can be utilized for extended periods, repurposed and recycled. A number of research studies discovered that cork is carbon unfavorableimplying it can keep more carbon than what is needed to produce it.
When cork slabs are cut and punched to form natural cork stoppers, the leftovers are ground into granules and compressed to form cork sheets or blocks. “Even cork dust is utilized to produce energy,” states João Rui Ferreira, secretary general of the Portuguese Cork Association. “It feeds the market’s boilers and powers a few of the production.”
Recycled cork can likewise be squashed and composited to make other items. In Portugal, Green Corka recycling program begun by the ecological company Quercus, has actually gathered and recycled more than 100 million cork stoppers given that 2009. A comparable effort, ReCORKexists in the United States.
A natural factory
The majority of the cork produced in Portugal grows in the carefully swelling hills and plains in the south of the nation, in an ancient agroforestry system called montado This savannah-like community integrates cork, holm oaks and olive trees with pastures, grazing animals, crops and fallows.
“The soil in southern Portugal is extremely bad, there is really little rain and temperature levels are extremely high in the summertime,” states Teresa Pinto-Correia, a teacher at the University of Évora in Portugal focusing on rural landscapes and farming systems. “But this sort of system is efficient even when resources are limited and conditions are challenging.”
For centuries, residents have actually maintained the montado since cork offered landowners with an income. This mosaic of environments supports numerous types, consisting of the Iberian lynxthe world’s most threatened wildcat, and the threatened Imperial eagle. Among the world’s earliest recognized cork oak trees, planted in 1783 in Águas de Moura, is called “the whistler” due to the fact that numerous birds visit its big stretching branches.
Iberian pigs feed upon acorns and goats graze the interwoven pastures. Sprinkling cork oak trees with animals and crops can enhance production and biodiversity, however likewise develop soil, control disintegration, keep water, fight desertification and sequester carbon, states Pinto-Correia.
While the cork forests can assist alleviate the impacts of environment modification, they are likewise progressively at danger from it as dry spell and wildfires end up being more extreme and more regular in the area.
“The tree is adjusted to the Mediterranean environment. The bark safeguards it from fire,” states forest engineer Conceição Santos Silva. “But for the very first 2 years after cork is drawn out, the trees are a lot more susceptible to wildfires due to the fact that they do not have this defense.”
Fires in cork groves, she states, stay uncommon due to the fact that of cautious human management. “The tree constantly regrows,” states Santos Silva.
As a slow-growing tree, the cork oak takes years to supply shade and produce excellent quality cork. In Coruche, individuals still go by an old Portuguese stating: “Those who care about their grandchildren plant cork oak trees.”