In Portugal, cork is seen as a tree of the future
Cork has amazing natural properties and is a climate-friendly material. The big drawback is it grows very slowly.
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00:00Cork harvesting in Portugal. It takes a practiced hand, like Carlos Figueiras, to harvest this
00:08valuable bark. Every summer he repeats the peeling process, just like his father and
00:13grandfather before him.
00:15Very exhausting, very hot. The harvest is hard work. We have to be careful. If we injure
00:23the tree, it will scar badly. Take this wound, for example. Here the tree no longer produces
00:30its bark.
00:34Cork farming is a long-standing tradition here, and important for the local economy.
00:40Portugal is the world's largest cork producer. The climate-friendly and renewable material
00:46is in higher demand than ever.
00:49For 60-year-old António José Mateus, scurrying up the trees is no problem at all, even in
00:55the 35 degrees Celsius heat.
00:58I've been doing this work every summer for 43 years. The season lasts three months. I
01:06can handle it. It's no trouble for me to be up here.
01:13The slow-growing bark can only be harvested every nine years. António Gonçalves Figueira,
01:19from the UNAC Forestry Association, says that's why the material is so special.
01:25When we look to a cork oak, we see it as our past and our future. Our history is here,
01:32from all the generations that have made it possible to be here today. And the future,
01:39because it protects the soils, it has a lot of biodiversity.
01:46The harvested cork bark is sent to factories for further processing. It is heated, pressed,
01:53and as shown here, cut into small slices for champagne corks, millions per day.
02:01One of Portugal's cork regions, and one of only a handful in the world, is Coruça.
02:08At this exhibition, the versatile material is showcased in all its glory. João Motinj
02:14explains there's a lot more to cork than corks.
02:23The cork is cut directly from the bark. The rest of the cork plank is then processed for
02:31insulation material, wall elements, or corks made from the granules.
02:42At the University of HavaÃra, Rui Miguel Novaes is working on sustainable building
02:48materials derived from cork. The material is light and elastic and could be an effective
02:55alternative to conventional synthetic materials, which, although efficient, are bad for the
03:00environment.
03:02If we use cork instead of these materials, which are not renewable, and cork is, we are
03:08decreasing several orders of magnitude, not only the amount of energy that we require
03:13to produce cork, 20 times lower or more, and also the CO2 emission associated with the
03:18cork production.
03:20In addition, cork is a good insulator and fire-resistant. The trees evolve their unique
03:26bark to protect themselves against forest fires. Cork is used everywhere, even in NASA
03:32spacecraft.
03:34For sure we have a lot to learn from nature. I think it's the best guideline for our future
03:38because we as humans tend to use all sorts of different materials to combine them together
03:45very efficiently, but then in our days there is a huge problem connected with the recyclability
03:50of such materials.
03:53Back on the cork plantation, the harvest is now well underway. But Carlos is worried as
04:00fewer and fewer people are choosing to go into the profession.
04:08It's difficult to find people these days. I like working here, just like my father before
04:14me, so I carry on. It's good for me. Out in the fresh air, not at a desk, here we have
04:23all the freedom we need.
04:29Business is booming, but cork production cannot be stepped up indefinitely. It takes up to
04:3540 years before the bark of a young cork oak matures enough for harvest. When it comes
04:41to this climate-friendly material, good things certainly come to those who wait.