15 May 2006 - London,
UK – Three-quarters of the western Mediterranean’s
cork oak forests could be lost within ten years,
threatening an economic and environmental crisis,
according to a new WWF report.
On the eve of the International
Wines and Spirits Fair in London this week, WWF
warns that up to two million hectares of cork
oak forests — around half the size of Switzerland
— will be put at a heightened risk of desertification
and forest fires due to a predicted decline in
the cork stoppers market.
The report, Cork Screwed?, says
that the future survival of the cork forests strongly
depends upon the market for cork wine closures.
However, the trend away from cork stoppers could
lead, in the worst case scenario, to synthetic
and screw tops holding 95 per cent of the closure
market by 2015. This would result in the loss
of 62,500 jobs in the cork-producing regions.
"The cork oak forests could
face an economic and environmental crisis unless
we take action to secure their future now,"
said Rebecca May, a forests campaigner with WWF-UK.
"It is vital that the wine and cork industries
maintain the market for cork stoppers and, in
turn, help ensure the survival of the cork oak
forests.”
Cork stoppers, which are biodegradable
and can be recycled into other products, represent
almost 70 per cent of the total cork market value.
Every year, over 15 billion cork stoppers are
produced and sold to the wine industry. The cork
landscapes provide a vital source of income for
more than 100,000 people in the cork-producing
countries of Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco,
Italy, Tunisia and France. They are also home
to endangered species such as the Iberian lynx,
Barbary deer and the Imperial Iberian eagle.
Cork harvesting is an environmentally-friendly
process during which not a single tree is cut
down. Synthetic and screw top closures are more
harmful to the environment because they use more
energy in production and are oil-based products.
WWF is calling on the cork industry
to continue to invest in the quality of cork stoppers
and the wine industry to make cork the preferred
closure option. Better management practices in
cork oak landscapes also need to be coupled with
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation,
an internationally recognized environmental certification
system.
“A whole landscape, which has
environmental as well as economic importance for
the western Mediterranean is at risk," said
Nora Berrahmouni, coordinator of WWF's Cork Oak
Landscapes Programme. "We need to take action
now so we don’t lose this unique landscape forever.”
