To Cork or Not To Cork - the noble battle to save the cork
Last updated 21/06/2008 18:14:46
How many times have you opened a bottle of wine lately to find a synthetic stopper instead of traditional cork one?
Many of us do not know that there is a fierce battle being waged by campaigners to save the cork, and they have some pretty noble reasons for doing so.
Cork trees are unique in that their thick bark can be stripped off every decade to extract the cork without damaging the trees, which live 170 to 250 years on average.
In fact, regular cork stripping is necessary to prevent the bark from aging, and to maintain the health of the tree and the forest ecosystem that provides habitat to endangered species including the Imperial eagle, the Iberian lynx and the Barbary deer.
The Rainforest Alliance, campaigning for sustainable forestry practices, believes that this makes the cork industry one of the last natural forest ecosystems in Western Europe. And that's worth fighting for.