A BIT ABOUT CORK

                                     CORK FROM THE TREE TO THE BOTTLE

      After reading about this trip in the New York Times a couple years ago I knew it was a trip for me. It didn't take  long for me to get to the computer to start some research which eventually led me to the Cork Alliance website and it's Executive Director,  Patrick Spencer, with whom I made contact and later watched his TED Talk.

    We visited 4 of Spain's 17 autonomous communities (states), and learned a lot of Spanish history along the way. Cork is harvested in June and July so there are ony four tours a year and because of the unique and small accomadations this company limits each group to only ten people. The first night we stayed in a 16th century palace, a couple of times in the forest, once close to the Portugal border and another time in an apartment on a large estate. In Andalusia we spent seeral days in a old hospital that had been converted to a hotel.

    This trip absolutely fulfilled my preference for getting out into the countryside and mingling with the people. Lunch in the forest with the workers was a delight both times.

     Seven million acres of cork forest stand in 7 countries that have oak cork trees: Spain, Portugal, France, Tunsia, Morocco, Italy, and Algeria; 91% of cork forests are family owned. Bark  is  harvested by hand every 9 years. It is the  only tree that bark can be removed from  and  conitue to live. With an axe, the experts detach the grey bark from the oaks. The trunks of the trees then turn orange, yellow or red.  No mechanical tools have been used in these forests for 2000 years. The workers are the highest paid agricultural workers in world.

      The industry is the  3^rd highest biodiversity industry in the world; 13,000 plants grow in the areas while animals, many endemic, live in the forests.

     Trees are protected in all 7 countries, and it is illegal to cut them down. The Industry, a 0% waste industry is  fully sustainable.  Each year 12 billion corks are made.    

   In spite of the misconception, the cork forests are in jeopardy because of under use not overuse .

    A fun little known factoid: the inside of the shuttle fuel tanks are lined with cork protecting the shuttle on re-entry as cork will not burn below 1000 degrees.