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The Conservation Case for Cork
The Biodiversity & Wine Initiative team (Tony Hansen, Sue Winter & Joan Isham)
Did you know that choosing cork as a preferred stopper is actually a wise move from a conservation perspective? While it might seem at first glance counter-intuitive, purchasing cork enables sustainable cork utilisation to continue. Opting for screw tops and plastic stoppers can directly cause a loss of sustainable livelihoods or the neglect of cork forest conservation. Because the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative promotes sustainable production, we would like to equip you with some facts that might influence your stopper choice?
Covering about 2.7 million hectares and extending across Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France, the cork oak forests represent one of the best examples of interaction between people and nature. Natural plant diversity in cork oak forests is among the highest in Europe, reaching levels of 60-100 species per 0.1 ha. Cork ecosystems also support a rich animal diversity and contribute to the survival of for example, the Iberian lynx (the worlds rarest and most endangered cat), the Iberian Imperial eagle (only 150 pairs remaining in the wild) and the Barbary deer. Cork oak landscapes also perform key ecological functions, such as conservation of soil, buffering against fires and water table recharge.
Cork is a natural, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable material and is obtained through one of the most environmentally-friendly harvesting processes in the world. No single tree is cut down to harvest cork. The bark of trees is stripped every 9-12 years which does not kill the tree, and trees can live for up to 300 years.
Cork is also the symbol of a rich Mediterranean cultural heritage. Cork harvesting is not only a process, it represents a heritage of techniques and ways of life, which have survived for years across the Mediterranean and cannot be found anywhere else. Cork stopper production supports an entire economy in the Mediterranean as hundreds of thousands of people work to harvest and process the cork in these countries. Cork oak habitats also enable people to make a living as they produce herbs, wild berries, mushrooms, honey, charcoal and firewood.
To support nature, people livelihoods and economies in the Mediterranean, it is crucial that the demand for cork stoppers is maintained. Without this demand entire natural, human and economic systems could collapse. Over the last decade damaging policies, poor forest management and a change in the cork market have resulted in the degradation and loss of these unique habitats.
It is therefore very encouraging to know that the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) is implementing a five-year Cork Oak Landscape programme. This programme aims to reverse damaging trends and to improve conditions for the environmental, social and economic balance of these landscapes. WWF is working closely with the cork and wine industries to promote products from sustainably-managed cork oaks landscapes, and to encourage responsible purchasing attitudes through the market chain, from processing industries to consumers.
The brochure of the WWF Cork Oak Programme can be downloaded from the BWI website (www.bwi.co.za) for more information.
News Flash - Conservation Funds Matched By Industry
The Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI) recently secured additional funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (World Bank affiliate) for an additional extension officer to service the Succulent Karoo regions of the wine industry. This funding was sourced due to the increasing demand by producers to become BWI members and champions throughout the wine regions. The appointment of Joan Isham on 1 February 2006 has gone a long way to alleviate this capacity constraint with a new focus on the Worcestor-Robertson area in the Breede River Valley for 2006 and Olifant's River region in the near future.
With the conservation funding for the BWI drawing to a close in 2006, the wine industry has committed to fund this valuable initiative from 2007 onwards. Since 2004, the BWI has become a pillar of the industry's IPW sustainable production guidelines and a pivotal part of the core positioning for Wines of South Africa. For this reason, WINETECH and WOSA have committed to funds to enable the continuation of the BWI. To maintain the staff compliment of two, a proposal has been submitted to SAWIT to fund a PDI extension officer from January 2007.
Summary
The Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI) presents some interesting facts about cork oak forests that could influence your decision in using cork as a preferred stopper. Covering about 2.7 million hectares and extending across Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France, the cork oak forests represent one of the best examples of interaction between people and nature. Cork stopper production supports an entire economy in the Mediterranean as thousands of people work to harvest and process the cork in these countries through one of the most environmentally-friendly harvesting processes in the world. To support nature, people livelihoods and economies in the Mediterranean, it is crucial that the demand for cork stoppers is maintained.
A newsflash from the BWI is that the wine industry (specifically Winetech and Wosa) has committed to fund the extension officer positions of this valuable initiative from 2007 onwards, considering that the conservation funding for the BWI is drawing to a close at the end of 2006.
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