FIND MIGUEL
The world’s leading cork maker has launched a campaign against the increasing use of screw caps and plastic stoppers in wine bottles, which it says is a threat to Portugal’s forests of cork oaks.
Portugal’s company Amorim Corticeira argues that using only cork stoppers would ensure the survival of the forests and sustain their unique ecosystems, home to several endangered animal species such as the Iberian lynx.
Portugal is the world’s largest cork producer. Amorim does not grow the trees itself but buys cork from producers.
Cork oaks are not cut down but their bark is harvested every nine years in a tree’s lifespan.
The campaign (www.savemiguel.com> followed a study by the WWF in June urging Portugal to expand its cork forests to prevent growing desertification caused by global warming.
The proportion of cork stoppers in wine bottles had fallen to 70 percent from 90 percent in 12 years.
It is important to sustain demand for cork to maintain the largest natural forest in Western Europe and therefore getting back to the 90-to-95-percent mark is unlikely because of stiff competition, particularly from screw caps.
Amorim’s campaign is aimed at all ages but particularly young users of popular websites such as Facebook and YouTube. It also blends pro-environment and sustainability ideas with the humour of American comedian Rob Schneider, the star of “The Animal” and “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. In the campaign video, Schneider travels to Portugal on a mission to “save Miguel” -a cork oak tree in the heart of the cork-growing region.
Things you didn’t know:
- Harvesting cork bark assists in the absorption of CO2 a greenhouse gas that causes climate change.
- Harvested cork trees absorb 3-5 times more CO2 than non-harvested tree’s. Cork trees in Portugal alone help offset 4.8 million tons of carbon every year.
- Cork stoppers are made from the bark of a cork oak tree, not the tree itself. Bark is harvested from the tree every 9-12 years. Each time cork is harvested, cork bark regenerates itself (and in doing so absorbs CO2).
- Cork trees live between 100 and 300 years.