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Does harvesting cork kill the tree?
The cork bark can be harvested from the tree allowing new bark to grow in its place without killing or damaging the trees. After each harvest the cork tree fully regenerates its bark and is harvested every 9 to 10 years until the tree is about 200 years old.
Can cork be harvested sustainably?
Cork Trees Are Harvested, Not Cut Down Bark is harvested from the tree every 9-12 years. Completely renewable and sustainable, harvesting bark does not harm the tree. Each time cork is harvested; cork bark regenerates itself (and in doing so absorbs CO2). In fact, cork trees live between 100 and 300 years.
Where does cork come from and how often can it be harvested?
The Cork Oak Tree is an evergreen medium-sized oak that has a thick corky bark, periodically harvested to produce marketable cork. So, cork is a natural raw material grown around the trunk of the tree, its bark actually!
What time of year is cork harvested?
Harvesting takes place during the most active phase of growth of cork, between the middle of May or beginning of June until the middle or end of August. It takes 25 years for a cork oak trunk to start to produce cork and be profitable.
Why is cork bad for the environment?
Cork oak forests are a big carbon dioxide store. All plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere in order to live and grow. This captured carbon is then stored inside the plant. This is why deforestation is such a problem. In the Andalusian forests, it’s estimated that cork trees store over 15 million tonnes of CO2 alone.
How long do cork trees live?
200 years
A single cork oak, which lives up to 200 years, can be harvested over 16 times.
How long does it take for cork to grow back?
Contrary to widely held misconceptions, the trees are not cut down or harmed in any way in the harvesting process. Like sheep, whose shorn wool grows back over time, the bark from a cork oak regenerates every nine years.
How often do cork trees need to be harvested?
Cork oaks are harvested every nine years, once they reach maturity. It doesn’t harm the tree, and the cork bark regrows. Most cork forests are in Portugal and Spain. The year of harvest is marked on the trunk, so each tree isn’t harvested at the wrong time.
Where is the best place to harvest Cork?
Most cork forests are in Portugal and Spain. The year of harvest is marked on the trunk, so each tree isn’t harvested at the wrong time. Cork is a great insulating material, and gives these oaks a chance to survive the forest fires that occasionally happen in the hot Mediterranean summers.
What kind of products can Cork be used for?
This include cork paper, used in printing, book covering, clothing manufacture, cork maroquinerie and other products. Cork is also used in making cricket balls, Hurling Ball (Sliothars), badminton shuttlecocks, handles of fishing rods and special devices for the space industry.
How are Cork planks stored before being processed?
The harvested cork planks are stored before processing. Good cork companies will store them on concrete rather than bare earth, lowering the risk of contamination. This is a close-up of a piece of bark. It’s quite thin, and won’t be used to produce high-quality natural cork.