In order to mitigate deforestation from generations of forest clearing and land degradation due to climate change, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is working with Portugal’s landowners to ramp up the planting of cork oak trees.

According to WWF, cork trees “support one of the world’s highest levels of forest biodiversity, including endemic plants and endangered species such as the Iberian Lynx, the Iberian Imperial Eagle, and…the Barbary Deer.”

Halting deforestation ranks high among the many reasons this effort is important. WWF estimates that by increasing the country’s cork forest by 20 percent over the next 12 years, Portugal could effectively put an end to deforestation.

The tree adapts extremely well to a changing climate; cork trees have grown successfully under dry conditions, which climate modeling show is a real threat for the area. Cork trees are also efficient at regeneration. In fact, “as soon as the bark of the cork oak tree or the cork is removed, it is replaced by a new layer which begins growing once more," according to Portuguese Forestry. The ability to quickly renew its stock also makes for a lucrative economic boon to Portugal’s forestry service. 

One of the greatest benefits of the cork oak tree is its innate resistance to fire. With the help of the WWF, Portugal is working to prevent deforestation from wildfires by planting cork oak into fire-prone or potentially hazardous areas, such as around eucalyptus trees, which are highly flammable. Planted strategically, cork trees act to keep fires at bay, providing an important line of defense between fires and eucalyptus trees.

At around 25 years of maturity, the cork tissue material can be harvested for corkboard production and for other industries like wine making. According to an article in Portuguese Forestry, cork trees “can survive as long as 150 to 200 years, and production of cork is thus certain for a long duration.”

Cork tree farms can be -- and are -- passed down through generations of landowners' own family trees. Boosting the number of cork trees in Portugal will bring additional revenue to the country and help landowners make ends meet.

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The World-Warming Effects of Deforestation
Seeing the City for the Trees
The Japanese Wonder Tree

Cork oak tree photo by Flickr user Francois Schnell