Silva Mediterranea

Plus de 90 ans au service des forêts méditerranéennes

Working group on Non-wood Forest Products

At its last meeting in 1950, the Mediterranean European Commission Subcommittee on Forests and FAO Forest Products decided to establish a permanent working group on cork oaks. A first meeting of this group was held in Lisbon in May 1951, which went over the cultural problems of the cork oak and the opportunities for cork products. Concerned countries were asked to encourage the cork industry and seek new utilizations, the possibility of chemical use and opportunities for lower quality cork oaks, in order to offset the emerging competition from substitute products. A questionnaire was compiled to compile, for each country, an inventory of the forests of cork oak and production statistics and cork market. Discussions were also devoted to prospective research undertaken on regeneration and production, on insects and diseases, the protection of cork oak forests, and silvicultural techniques. The success of this working group has attracted considerable interest in Portugal, where cork exports reached 30 million in 1950.

Develop cork: an essential way to preserve cork oak in the Mediterranean 

The economic exploitation of cork is vital for maintaining the cork oak system. Species can be endangered when their economic output is at risk, thus, one of the most effective strategies to save an endangered species is it to revive its economic interest.. In this context, the FAO / Silva Mediterranea cork oak network has, in 1997, launched the idea of a trademark or cork label in order to promote products derived from cork. This would mark the short-term objectives of the working group: i) to encourage consumers to prefer cork stoppers and other cork products to similar substitutes; ii) and to develop a common strategy among the countries that produce and sell cork. As for the long-term strategy. this initiative aimed to achieve the certification of all cork products, and rigorous quality criteria for different products, including cork.