my cork tile floor is almost 20 years old - looks great - perfect in the kitchen - easy on the feet - better that tile - natural insect repellent- fire retardant - installed it in a few hours with a utility knife and ruler - also glue. and have uncorked thousands of bottles of wine. Thanks Portugal for all you do. thanks cbs for a very well produced package - not cheap to send a crew over seas.
@@Snaakie83 Cork is not timber, there's wine bottles of dozens of years whose capsule is cork the wine is in contact with the capsule and it is is not rotten.
CAN'T!!! All of the places where those trees lived are becoming yearly forest fire infernos with the changing climate... Portugal, which accounted for 3/4 of the world supply, had its cork trees burnt to the ground. I live in a place where we import LOTS of French wines (Quebec city) and the French switched to plastic corks about ten years ago, because cork was becoming RARE!!! It's NOT a resource you should base any future hopes on...
Here's why I clicked on this: I live on a boat. One morning last summer I noticed a wine cork floating in my slip. It was still there the next day. A couple days later I thought it was gone, but it had just migrated to the starboard side. It stayed in my slip for several weeks, going from port to starboard every few days. Then one day Corky (I'd named it by then) was gone, and I wished I'd fished it out as an I-don't-know-what kind of souvenir or something Then, almost a week later, Corky showed up again! He now sits proudly in my cockpit, a loyal fellow traveler.
The use of cork as an insulating material is very old. In Portugal, in the 16th century, a convent of Capuchin friars was built whose small cells were entirely lined with cork. The cork oak (sobreiro in Portuguese) also provides acorns for pigs, protects soil from erosion and is a natural barrier against fire and desertification in the southern province of Alentejo where it mostly grows. According to a saying, for every cork oak tree uprooted, a camel enters the Alentejo. The large fires in Portugal mainly consume eucalyptus (raw material for the paper industry) and pine forests, both of which are highly flammable (eucalyptus only has an advantage over cork oaks because it re-sprouts spontaneously after a fire). Last but not the least, cork oak woodlands are home to a multitude of animal and plant species. The cork oak is a national treasure of Portugal!
Let it be understood that there isn't a single camel in Portugal. Hence the joke, not one Cork Oak was ever uprooted. It's a very valuable little tree, that seems to live forever. Cork and Olive trees live happily together in Southern Portugal. Even from close distance they outwardly look very much alike, although they have little in common. The Portuguese names are _Sobreiro_ and _Oliveira,_ common surnames as well. 😀
I just returned a few days ago from Portugal, we were riding horses through the cork plantations, it is a beautiful sight. My building in NY collects cork to make floating islands for waterfowl. Cork can save the world.
This is a great example of why design is going to 'save' us. Cork technology has existed for thousands of years but it's only when we apply thoughtful uses to it's properties that we get all these amazing applications! Thanks for this article
Moreover, cork production is part of an ecosystem of oak woodland in the Iberian Peninsula ("dehesa" in Spanish, "montado" in Portuguese), that includes wild fire management and top quality pork production.
one thing that isn't mentioned in the video is that native cork forests in Portugal support an incredible array of biodiversity. Yes they are good for storing carbon but also filtering and holding ground water, propagating pollinators and keeping balance in nature
This is not a monoculture, it’s an ecosystem that would naturally evolve to a climax where the cork oak would be the dominant tree. It’s managed, not wild, but management consists mostly of thinning the forest so that each tree gets as much sunlight and soil volume as it can benefit from. In a purely wild forest, most oaks would be smaller and competition for resources would limit their ability to recover from debarking. The montado was probably created as a balance between die back of the less vigorous trees, and the survival of the ones that tolerated debarking best, leading to its present density. It likely features the same biomass density as the original, wild oak forest, but concentrated in fewer individuals. Undergrowth flora, fauna are present and the soil remains untilled, meaning its rich microbial life and macrofauna are preserved. In the past, attempts were made to combine these open woodlands with cereal, but the results were not great and tilling the soil harmed the trees. Cork, as a commodity, is the only reason these large areas of woodland are maintained. Human goals and this ecosystem reached this stage of equilibrium over centuries of cultural adaptation, and over-engineering it risks disrupting it via unforeseen consequences.
This is probably the ONLY comment worth reading in this comment section. Bravo! Very informative and accurate. My family is from Alentejo, from Mértola region, and they still have cork oaks. Taking care of a montado is a labour of love, commitment and total dedication of multiple generations. Saudações
Despite the grossly exaggerated claims of cork saving the planet, it was wild to see a tree get its bark peeled off and live to regrow the bark. I didn’t think any tree could survive such a process.
These trees evolved to withstand wildfires, so this is just a protective outer layer, it's already dead. Removing it is similar to trimming your nails.
Wait, there's a cork tree?? I assumed it was some general processed wood. It's amazing that cork is harvested without cutting down the tree and is sustainable.
@@rasputindasilva858 you're saying 9yrs, but they said 25yrs in this piece so where are you getting the 9yr number? They said towards the end they're hoping to be able to harvest the cork bark in 10yrs but that's something they're working on figuring out
@@nolongerblocked6210 25yrs is the number of years to have the first cork harvest; After that every 9yrs you can peeled it. The cork bark is dead, and naturally it would be expelled by the tree (like a snake); remove the bark is not deleterious for the mother tree; in fact it will help to avoid insect and mould infestation of bark material. Nowadays we produce a vast array of products from cork, including clothes and tissues, besides the normal stoppers and construction material's.
here's my fav random fact that literally NO ONE talks about 😱 apparently the reason why cork is harvested from oak trees every 9 years in Portugal comes from an ancient tradition of circumcising Portuguese men every 9 years 💀 it's bc of some Mediterranean genetic mutation that makes their 🍆 skin grow non-stop lmaooo can't make this up!!! 🤯
Not only flooring, some old portuguese houses also have it on the walls and cealings because it it also heat/cold resistant, so it is good for isolation and it is very hard to burn it so it also protects houses from fires
This is where greed starts to affect the end quality down the line somewhere. Instead of 25 years, now they are trying for 10 years to grow. Keep it as it is
I live in the Alentejo, where these cork oak trees originate, but they are dying at an alarming rate. From my windows, I can see some that are already dead and many others struggling to survive. Climate change has introduced numerous pests and diseases that attack them relentlessly, accelerating their decline. Unfortunately, there is little to no economic incentive for research or solutions, and the lack of meaningful action from organizations, researchers, and governments only worsens the situation
I still swear by cork gaskets in my air cooled vws and for most valve covers on v8s. They soak up oil and last along time. I keep cork sheets around to make emergency gaskets when something breaks in the field
sound proofing is something that people really under estimate. when you go into a bar that is not well treated acoustically, it is very annoying. you can't hear the music, you can't understand what your friends are saying. it is stressful but you initially wanted to go there to have a good time and relax. cork on the walls is one good option to improve this. also inside a speaker box it is one of several materials to be combined to a good dampening of resonances.
I bet most people never saw cork in the corktree, as the tree bark itself. 😀 But for a Southern Portuguese It's a pretty common sight. Nowadays Cork is valuable enough to be promptly stolen, if left carelessly stacked in the open without proper precautions. 😲
Maybe Cork trees will replace Coastal Oak forests in California as the blight is destroying our native tree and no cure has been found. PS - Cork oaks grow well in California's Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and moderate wet winters. They can tolerate high heat and thrive in maritime coastal climates like Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
Cork itself doesn't burn it just chars. But I've no idea how the tree fares in a wildfire, so I just Googled it. Apparently they're very resistant to fire, and are effective used as integrated fire barriers within forests of other trees. This might be very useful in California, or any other area susceptible to wildfires.
In certain regions of Portugal its recycled and re used in insulation for houses and its absolutely fantastic materials for it aswell there is a great group in the castelo branco region do a well detailed video on this material project kamp it's a great little project they have going on
Cork surely would grow in Australia and would be more profitable that sugar, or corn and it would be far more useful. I would love the interior of my home made of cork. And the ceiling. It sure would cool these Aussie houses.
I built a house in about 1995 in German which was entirely insulated by cork. Wonderful material, but extremely expensive. Now I'm building a house in Alberta, Canada and I checked it out before. It would be more then 10 times more expensive then the already expensive mineral material that I use. Maybe in warmer climates the limited amount of cork that is actually available can be put to good use, but on a larger scale and in colder climates it just doesn't make economical sense.
It is supposed to be that way. The cork is made by the tree to counteract (wonderfully, it must be said) the forest fires that naturally occur in Mediterranean-type climates. It not only survives, it thrives.
There's no one single solution to the environmental and climate problems we're facing. Cork is one material that we can use to replace plastic, but other sustainable materials should be used as well.
You should do a video on bamboo. Bamboo can help save the world. The best thing about cork and bamboo you don't burn it. Make great furniture and buildings from bamboo. You can make clothing from bamboo.
In Portugal it a highly regulated tree. I think since 2001 you need special permits to cut one of these down. Even when when you cut a eucalyptus forest, if there is a cork tree, they leave it sanding. Of course, for the small folk... because big companies can always find a way to decimate a forest to build something else. If you have one that you need to remove, you better inform yourself prior to cutting it.
Parts of California has parts that is on the same longitude as where these cork forests are located could take advantage of the unused land and the Californian cork forests will create careers for many people
Cork oak trees (Quercus suber), the source of natural cork, are native to the Mediterranean region and thrive in its specific climate and soil conditions. While California has a Mediterranean-like climate, cork oak cultivation there is limited. The natural ecosystems in California are dominated by different native species, such as live oaks, which do not produce cork.
I’m always skeptical of large homogenous agricultural type operations. The biodiversity of the land keeps it healthy. Too much of any one species of plant can lead to problems. Even if it is native.
At about 1 minute into the film they refer to the Montado landscape, which is explained here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehesa you'll be happy to find the Montado is far from a homogenous operation.
This is as far from monocultures like palm, spruce, pine or fir, as you can go. It’s a mostly preserved ecosystem where the tree component is managed so that each individual tree gets as much sunlight and soil volume as it can benefit from. Biodiversity is there and you don’t have to look hard for it - in the undergrowth flora, animal life (both prey and predator), soil microbial life and macrofauna. The system maintains all of its essential components. And cork woodland is organic by definition, there’s no water nor the need for fertilization.
this is not a monoculture. the montado is an ecossystem with cork trees and other smaller plants. it houses over 120 species of birds, can be used to raise pigs and other farm animals for milk and meat and is also good for beekeeping and can even be habitat for the threatened ibearian linx and other mammals. the cork trees make this ecosystem extremely resistant to fire, which is very beneficial as Portugal is very fire prone. this is a managed ecosystem to optimize for cork harvesting rather than a monoculture. protecting the montado is a big fight of environmentalists here in Portugal.
Wait ...didn't they replace wine the cork for wine with plastic ones , to save the planet....now your telling us to use cork instead of plastic to also save the planet ?
@@OAlem Um, you must be very young because they most definitely said that. In fact, back in the early 80's brown paper bags at the grocery store were standard, but then they told us to use plastic bags to save the planet. That was a bunch of bull jive too.
These trees evolved in an environment where wildfires are common, so cork is a protective layer. It's already dead, removing it is like trimming your nails.
You cannot attain sustainable environment if you plant a single kind of variety of trees.....it must be different species of plants and trees in an area...and that is best.
That's because this trees don't need much water, just the rain, some years more others less, so the growth is slow.... Everything in life, if matters, takes time🙏@@eugenetswong
You’d have to stop the ridiculous trade in handbags, slippers, trinket boxes, phone cars and other stuff that is eating away at the supply of cork , in the name of ‘sustainability’, before you find a more worthy use for this wonderful material.
just be sure there is no wild fire in the area you harvested your cork in the following years, because this bark is what protect them and they would burn beyond recovery without...
it cannot replace all plastic. but it can replace some plastic and we can build an amazing ecossystem in the process. other materials like bamboo and hemp can replace more plastic and even things like concrete. there wont be an all encompassing eco friendly wonder material but many
Portugal is the only Mediterranean country that isn't actually in the Mediterranean. That's because of our culture, which supersedes our actual location.
Anything we can do to help stop plastic production is a good thing for humanity. Plastics are toxic for humans & micro-plastics are deadly for animals, so a thank you to the "cork" trees
my cork tile floor is almost 20 years old - looks great - perfect in the kitchen - easy on the feet - better that tile - natural insect repellent- fire retardant - installed it in a few hours with a utility knife and ruler - also glue. and have uncorked thousands of bottles of wine. Thanks Portugal for all you do. thanks cbs for a very well produced package - not cheap to send a crew over seas.
does it stain?
Try some water, it'll rot in weeks
@@Snaakie83 Cork is not timber, there's wine bottles of dozens of years whose capsule is cork the wine is in contact with the capsule and it is is not rotten.
Cork does not rot. It is not timber.
@@Snaakie83 the convent of Capuchin friars from the XVI century clearly proves it doesnt
Glad this industry has stayed alive in the face of plastic. Hope it grows!
"Hope it grows!", pun intended?🙃
It will not grow, that is 100% sure.
@@wildalentejo It literately is growing. smh
CAN'T!!! All of the places where those trees lived are becoming yearly forest fire infernos with the changing climate... Portugal, which accounted for 3/4 of the world supply, had its cork trees burnt to the ground.
I live in a place where we import LOTS of French wines (Quebec city) and the French switched to plastic corks about ten years ago, because cork was becoming RARE!!!
It's NOT a resource you should base any future hopes on...
@@TheJimprezthe tree that most burn here are eucalyptus, not cork oak
Here's why I clicked on this: I live on a boat. One morning last summer I noticed a wine cork floating in my slip. It was still there the next day. A couple days later I thought it was gone, but it had just migrated to the starboard side. It stayed in my slip for several weeks, going from port to starboard every few days. Then one day Corky (I'd named it by then) was gone, and I wished I'd fished it out as an I-don't-know-what kind of souvenir or something Then, almost a week later, Corky showed up again! He now sits proudly in my cockpit, a loyal fellow traveler.
Nice!
ah yes cant wait for your memoirs book 😝😝
I almost thought you were headed for a Tom Hanks "Wilson!” moment 😂
The use of cork as an insulating material is very old. In Portugal, in the 16th century, a convent of Capuchin friars was built whose small cells were entirely lined with cork. The cork oak (sobreiro in Portuguese) also provides acorns for pigs, protects soil from erosion and is a natural barrier against fire and desertification in the southern province of Alentejo where it mostly grows. According to a saying, for every cork oak tree uprooted, a camel enters the Alentejo. The large fires in Portugal mainly consume eucalyptus (raw material for the paper industry) and pine forests, both of which are highly flammable (eucalyptus only has an advantage over cork oaks because it re-sprouts spontaneously after a fire). Last but not the least, cork oak woodlands are home to a multitude of animal and plant species. The cork oak is a national treasure of Portugal!
Let it be understood that there isn't a single camel in Portugal. Hence the joke, not one Cork Oak was ever uprooted. It's a very valuable little tree, that seems to live forever. Cork and Olive trees live happily together in Southern Portugal. Even from close distance they outwardly look very much alike, although they have little in common. The Portuguese names are _Sobreiro_ and _Oliveira,_ common surnames as well. 😀
I just returned a few days ago from Portugal, we were riding horses through the cork plantations, it is a beautiful sight. My building in NY collects cork to make floating islands for waterfowl. Cork can save the world.
May the Cork be with you.
Weak af!!
Love it! 😂👌🙌🇵🇹
Portugal 🇵🇹 : the most epic little country on the planet.
😂😂😂😂 Somebody needs to travel more. 😂😂😂 Self-praise is no praise.
@@petropavlovskkamchatskiy1917 The portuguese have traveled a lot, history tells us that
Yes I agree ; and I am Greek. But boy, the Portuguese can teach people too.
@@petropavlovskkamchatskiy1917Have you been here actually? Even once?
@@ricardo1e93 offcourse not he needs to travel more!
Cork and Hemp are the real heroes of the future...
and algae and bamboo!
Throw in seaweed and mushrooms as well.
This is a great example of why design is going to 'save' us. Cork technology has existed for thousands of years but it's only when we apply thoughtful uses to it's properties that we get all these amazing applications! Thanks for this article
Hello from County Cork in Ireland 🇮🇪
In 1755 y'all had a tsunami due to an earthquake that destroyed Lisbon. We are linked
Was gonna say Ireland has a whole county for it 😁
How much cork is the in Cork?
Just as a side note. Ireland is pure beauty!
Cheers from Portugal to all corkorians 😊
Cortiça is a Wonder Material✨ Great to see my little country covered with such excellence thank you👌🌳🙌🙌🇵🇹
Moreover, cork production is part of an ecosystem of oak woodland in the Iberian Peninsula ("dehesa" in Spanish, "montado" in Portuguese), that includes wild fire management and top quality pork production.
Our house flooring is made of cork, has 30 years and still like new
I love cork! Cork floors are awesome too walk on.
one thing that isn't mentioned in the video is that native cork forests in Portugal support an incredible array of biodiversity. Yes they are good for storing carbon but also filtering and holding ground water, propagating pollinators and keeping balance in nature
Cork is fascinating. It can perfectly seal any bottle or recipient organically. I love it.
This is not a monoculture, it’s an ecosystem that would naturally evolve to a climax where the cork oak would be the dominant tree. It’s managed, not wild, but management consists mostly of thinning the forest so that each tree gets as much sunlight and soil volume as it can benefit from. In a purely wild forest, most oaks would be smaller and competition for resources would limit their ability to recover from debarking. The montado was probably created as a balance between die back of the less vigorous trees, and the survival of the ones that tolerated debarking best, leading to its present density. It likely features the same biomass density as the original, wild oak forest, but concentrated in fewer individuals. Undergrowth flora, fauna are present and the soil remains untilled, meaning its rich microbial life and macrofauna are preserved. In the past, attempts were made to combine these open woodlands with cereal, but the results were not great and tilling the soil harmed the trees. Cork, as a commodity, is the only reason these large areas of woodland are maintained. Human goals and this ecosystem reached this stage of equilibrium over centuries of cultural adaptation, and over-engineering it risks disrupting it via unforeseen consequences.
This is probably the ONLY comment worth reading in this comment section. Bravo!
Very informative and accurate.
My family is from Alentejo, from Mértola region, and they still have cork oaks. Taking care of a montado is a labour of love, commitment and total dedication of multiple generations.
Saudações
Those 3D Cork walls are wild.
Missed opportunity to say "popcork."
Despite the grossly exaggerated claims of cork saving the planet, it was wild to see a tree get its bark peeled off and live to regrow the bark.
I didn’t think any tree could survive such a process.
Harvesters can eventually bleed a tree to its end, so the importance of teaching them how to do it properly.
Gum trees shed their bark naturally. The look like they're nude until they grow their new barl.
Hhmmm you didn’t think. I agree with that!
These trees evolved to withstand wildfires, so this is just a protective outer layer, it's already dead. Removing it is similar to trimming your nails.
Grossly exaggerated is right... The ultimate greenwashing
Wow, I wouldn't be able to imagine such humble cork can be so useful. It's great to learn something new each day. 👍
Wait, there's a cork tree?? I assumed it was some general processed wood. It's amazing that cork is harvested without cutting down the tree and is sustainable.
Yes, they're called "sobreiro" in Portuguese. Scientific name, Quercus suber. It's a type of oak.
Cork is the bark of the cork tree, it is removed every nine years that's the time the tree needs to grow another one thick enouth to be useful.
@@rasputindasilva858 you're saying 9yrs, but they said 25yrs in this piece so where are you getting the 9yr number? They said towards the end they're hoping to be able to harvest the cork bark in 10yrs but that's something they're working on figuring out
@@nolongerblocked6210 25yrs is the number of years to have the first cork harvest; After that every 9yrs you can peeled it. The cork bark is dead, and naturally it would be expelled by the tree (like a snake); remove the bark is not deleterious for the mother tree; in fact it will help to avoid insect and mould infestation of bark material. Nowadays we produce a vast array of products from cork, including clothes and tissues, besides the normal stoppers and construction material's.
here's my fav random fact that literally NO ONE talks about 😱 apparently the reason why cork is harvested from oak trees every 9 years in Portugal comes from an ancient tradition of circumcising Portuguese men every 9 years 💀 it's bc of some Mediterranean genetic mutation that makes their 🍆 skin grow non-stop lmaooo can't make this up!!! 🤯
Anything that can get rid of plastic is good
Cork used to be used as flooring
Still is.
Not only flooring, some old portuguese houses also have it on the walls and cealings because it it also heat/cold resistant, so it is good for isolation and it is very hard to burn it so it also protects houses from fires
@@PenguinTac0s @bucapolex9560 Cool!
Can we mix cork and linoleum?
@@erickgomez7775 sure
Portugal is the biggest producer. 💪🏻
So, drink more wine to save the planet? I'm on it.
and cork can in some ways be reused / recycled. Some wine shops will collect used corks for recycle.
This is where greed starts to affect the end quality down the line somewhere. Instead of 25 years, now they are trying for 10 years to grow. Keep it as it is
I agree completely.
Cork bark is so nice ! 🙏🏼❤️
I live in the Alentejo, where these cork oak trees originate, but they are dying at an alarming rate. From my windows, I can see some that are already dead and many others struggling to survive. Climate change has introduced numerous pests and diseases that attack them relentlessly, accelerating their decline. Unfortunately, there is little to no economic incentive for research or solutions, and the lack of meaningful action from organizations, researchers, and governments only worsens the situation
hardlines, that's too bad
Cork a good natural material. However, in the tropics, a much faster, better, stronger, more versatile material - Bamboo
Both super versatile but cork is more malleable... Cork and bamboo 🌳🎍 Bamboo are definitely the future i hope
I still swear by cork gaskets in my air cooled vws and for most valve covers on v8s. They soak up oil and last along time. I keep cork sheets around to make emergency gaskets when something breaks in the field
sound proofing is something that people really under estimate. when you go into a bar that is not well treated acoustically, it is very annoying. you can't hear the music, you can't understand what your friends are saying. it is stressful but you initially wanted to go there to have a good time and relax. cork on the walls is one good option to improve this. also inside a speaker box it is one of several materials to be combined to a good dampening of resonances.
I bet most people never saw cork in the corktree, as the tree bark itself. 😀 But for a Southern Portuguese It's a pretty common sight.
Nowadays Cork is valuable enough to be promptly stolen, if left carelessly stacked in the open without proper precautions. 😲
I really like the sound-proofing on the walls!
Good idea make it replace plastic
Maybe Cork trees will replace Coastal Oak forests in California as the blight is destroying our native tree and no cure has been found.
PS - Cork oaks grow well in California's Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and moderate wet winters. They can tolerate high heat and thrive in maritime coastal climates like Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
But how flammable is it?...
@@losclaveles quite
Cork itself doesn't burn it just chars. But I've no idea how the tree fares in a wildfire, so I just Googled it. Apparently they're very resistant to fire, and are effective used as integrated fire barriers within forests of other trees. This might be very useful in California, or any other area susceptible to wildfires.
@@koloblicin come on, its called "the fireman tree" and is quite flammable? are you kidding...
@@wildalentejo the tree probably is quite fire resistant.
but the cork collection from my dad that i burnt recently, burnt pretty good.
I’ve been saying this for years you cork up the ocean and you can walk straight across to England.
Long live the King!
@@adamhuffman3354 good shave the king
Portugal mentioned: Obligatory PORTUGAL CAR@LHO comment. 🤣🇵🇹
You can use it as a mat on your record player, reducing vibration and you can buy a Cork Padel Raquet, it’s very good, a lot of usage.
In certain regions of Portugal its recycled and re used in insulation for houses and its absolutely fantastic materials for it aswell there is a great group in the castelo branco region do a well detailed video on this material project kamp it's a great little project they have going on
There are just as many cork trees on the island of sardinia, italy. They're used for everything from floor tiles to wall insulation
Beautiful!
Cork soakers; best SNL sketch ever!
You beat me too it! 😂
The only reason I checked the comments
Yup
unfortunatly there is a shortage and it takes decades to grow the trees
Fascinating! Great reporting.❤
Cork , Bamboo, Hemp. Materials of the future.
Cork surely would grow in Australia and would be more profitable that sugar, or corn and it would be far more useful. I would love the interior of my home made of cork. And the ceiling. It sure would cool these Aussie houses.
Great product!
Wow fireproof cork
Pretty much used for several thousand years .
Till supermarkets came along .
Adoro quando o mundo da notoriedade a tuga pelos seus feitos
Portugal ❤❤
I built a house in about 1995 in German which was entirely insulated by cork. Wonderful material, but extremely expensive. Now I'm building a house in Alberta, Canada and I checked it out before. It would be more then 10 times more expensive then the already expensive mineral material that I use. Maybe in warmer climates the limited amount of cork that is actually available can be put to good use, but on a larger scale and in colder climates it just doesn't make economical sense.
Super journalism!
Obrigado
Amazed that the tree isn't killed when the bark is stripped.
It is supposed to be that way. The cork is made by the tree to counteract (wonderfully, it must be said) the forest fires that naturally occur in Mediterranean-type climates. It not only survives, it thrives.
Very nice lets see and hope corks will save us
There's no one single solution to the environmental and climate problems we're facing. Cork is one material that we can use to replace plastic, but other sustainable materials should be used as well.
This is Wonderful.
unfortunately plenty oak trees are being cut down for solar pv fields.
Cork has been of value for centuries. The limiting factor has always been the range of the forest. Figure out where else to grow it and win.
You should do a video on bamboo. Bamboo can help save the world. The best thing about cork and bamboo you don't burn it. Make great furniture and buildings from bamboo. You can make clothing from bamboo.
"...his great great grandfather, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, fastest gun in the West..."
In Portugal it a highly regulated tree. I think since 2001 you need special permits to cut one of these down.
Even when when you cut a eucalyptus forest, if there is a cork tree, they leave it sanding.
Of course, for the small folk... because big companies can always find a way to decimate a forest to build something else.
If you have one that you need to remove, you better inform yourself prior to cutting it.
Cork trees are protected since the time of the visigothic king Alarico II ( 485-507) in the Iberian peninsula
With proper technology, any wood waste can be made into products like these and can reduce plastic consumption.
Parts of California has parts that is on the same longitude as where these cork forests are located could take advantage of the unused land and the Californian cork forests will create careers for many people
These trees are part of a natural ecosystem called montado. I don't know how they'd fare in a different environment.
Cork oak trees (Quercus suber), the source of natural cork, are native to the Mediterranean region and thrive in its specific climate and soil conditions.
While California has a Mediterranean-like climate, cork oak cultivation there is limited. The natural ecosystems in California are dominated by different native species, such as live oaks, which do not produce cork.
I’m always skeptical of large homogenous agricultural type operations. The biodiversity of the land keeps it healthy. Too much of any one species of plant can lead to problems. Even if it is native.
That's because its silvopastoral, there is diversity in there, including biodiversity, if you look for it.
At about 1 minute into the film they refer to the Montado landscape, which is explained here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehesa
you'll be happy to find the Montado is far from a homogenous operation.
This is as far from monocultures like palm, spruce, pine or fir, as you can go. It’s a mostly preserved ecosystem where the tree component is managed so that each individual tree gets as much sunlight and soil volume as it can benefit from. Biodiversity is there and you don’t have to look hard for it - in the undergrowth flora, animal life (both prey and predator), soil microbial life and macrofauna. The system maintains all of its essential components. And cork woodland is organic by definition, there’s no water nor the need for fertilization.
this is not a monoculture. the montado is an ecossystem with cork trees and other smaller plants. it houses over 120 species of birds, can be used to raise pigs and other farm animals for milk and meat and is also good for beekeeping and can even be habitat for the threatened ibearian linx and other mammals. the cork trees make this ecosystem extremely resistant to fire, which is very beneficial as Portugal is very fire prone. this is a managed ecosystem to optimize for cork harvesting rather than a monoculture. protecting the montado is a big fight of environmentalists here in Portugal.
also keep in mind that in the montado, while cork trees are dominant, other trees such as olive trees and holm oaks also exist
Great Video. Thanks
Most programs in Portugal are in English. They are not dubbed like other countries.
That guy with the axe is huge see those forearms great story
Wait ...didn't they replace wine the cork for wine with plastic ones , to save the planet....now your telling us to use cork instead of plastic to also save the planet ?
No, nobody said that. And if they did they were wrong because you don't cut cork trees down.
*you're telling us
Nope. Thats just you (and the plastic cartel.)
Ahha gotcha… lol
@@OAlem Um, you must be very young because they most definitely said that. In fact, back in the early 80's brown paper bags at the grocery store were standard, but then they told us to use plastic bags to save the planet. That was a bunch of bull jive too.
Only problem, cork granules are mostly agglomerated with polyurethane resin.
I think they are pine tree resine
We have cork insulation in our house here in Portugal its in the walls and in the floor...they have been using that for years and years!
As others have said how does the tree not die with the bark removed , I thought ring barking a tree kills it
These trees evolved in an environment where wildfires are common, so cork is a protective layer. It's already dead, removing it is like trimming your nails.
You cannot attain sustainable environment if you plant a single kind of variety of trees.....it must be different species of plants and trees in an area...and that is best.
It disturbs me that they didn't talk about the environmental impact, like water consumption.
That's because this trees don't need much water, just the rain, some years more others less, so the growth is slow.... Everything in life, if matters, takes time🙏@@eugenetswong
@@eugenetswongthey grow in a super dry environment. Actually makes the landscape cooler and supports local ecosystems
@@Trompunitalphapropan thank you!
@@eugenetswong It is a native tree - it won't use up more water than the water that naturally flows there.
You’d have to stop the ridiculous trade in handbags, slippers, trinket boxes, phone cars and other stuff that is eating away at the supply of cork , in the name of ‘sustainability’, before you find a more worthy use for this wonderful material.
How is the first person called Casemiro and the second person called Amorim😂
just be sure there is no wild fire in the area you harvested your cork in the following years, because this bark is what protect them and they would burn beyond recovery without...
This is so interesting ❤
Less private jets will save the planet faster.
And Champaign corks are now plastic... It's because plastic is cheaper. While ever that's the case, plastic will be used unless outlawed
Only cheap champagne
Humans see revenue even in planting a tree. Surely, it cannot replace the plastic scale of production.
Well buddy, this cork oak economy has been in continuous operation since Neolithic farmers and then Celts and Iberians lived in present-day Portugal.
it cannot replace all plastic. but it can replace some plastic and we can build an amazing ecossystem in the process. other materials like bamboo and hemp can replace more plastic and even things like concrete. there wont be an all encompassing eco friendly wonder material but many
Very interesting thank you
Here in the U.K. Labour are investing 22 billion pounds in cork .as they try to keep the economy afloat .
We've grown plenty of grapes in Oz now it's time for cork.
Too bad Dupont didn't just let us use Cork to start with we probably would have been okay...
But many cork trees are dying😢
If there's a limited amount then just make what people need. How is it so difficult to avoid overproducing everything???
How long does it take to grow
4:58 25 years and the bark takes 9 years to regrow.
@@OAlem its one of the biggest problems with cork. no one wants to invest in planting it because the roi comes 25 years later
Unfortunately thousands of cork trees are being cut down to plant olive trees, since olive oil is supposed to give more profit.
And since 1546 (!!), cork tree is protected by law, it's s forbidden to cut it down.
Most corck trees are on the Atlantic Coast, but they say it's on the med! Goodness!
Portugal is the only Mediterranean country that isn't actually in the Mediterranean. That's because of our culture, which supersedes our actual location.
Funny little trees being peeled. It's like they're growing a beard and then shaving them.
Portugal: Cork can save the world? my time has come.
Hey Portugal
That sounds great- how to recycle those same products after use
People need to stop throwing away cork stoppers for them only to go in the land fill.
Anything we can do to help stop plastic production is a good thing for humanity. Plastics are toxic for humans & micro-plastics are deadly for animals, so a thank you to the "cork" trees