Cork oak trees are native to the Mediterranean and flourish under Portugal's climate. They are harvested every nine years ...

About the harvest Two professional cork harvesters from Portugal demonstrated the process of stripping the tree’s bark for approximately 100 attendees. Throughout the exhibition, Greg Hirson, global ...

But its bark is the cork oak’s claim to fame. Almost ghostly pale in color, the bark is deeply furrowed and springy, and provides an ecologically sustainable cash crop.

A study in Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts presents yarn-free cellulose fibers extracted from wild paper-mulberry ...

Pots and planters drain better when raised up a little from a flat surface. You can buy pot feet or plant stands to do the ...

Bo tany professor and director of Cal Poly’s Plant Conservatory Matt Ritter said the university is home to about 50 cork oak trees, which are unique because they regenerate bark after harvesting.

It is a highly precise technique “that takes several years to learn”, said Nelson Ferreira, a 43-year-old cork bark harvester, adding he takes great care not to damage the tree.

I felt it would resurface in the work I was to do here in Portugal.” In 2018, during a visit to family-owned cork production facility NF Cork in Faro, he learned about turning cork bark into blocks.

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This article was originally published with the title “Bark and Cork” in SA Supplements Vol. 46 No. 1174supp (July 1898), p. 18785 doi:10.1038/scientificamerican07021898-18785csupp ...

For cork collector Khaled Warhani, the wildfires that devastated part of northern Tunisia's lush woodland this summer were a warning of how the changing climate will hurt his livelihood.