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At Easter we holidayed in Andalucia inland not on the coast. We had a hired car and did drive a bit and we also went for walks. Andalusia's mountainous and some of the area still had snow in Early April. Where ever we were it was not far away from a corkoak tree .A lot of Andalucia has man managed cork oak forests. These forests were quite dense not much light getting through the canopy. These woods not as dark as pine forest though
The cork forests we went into seemed to be well managed and some have Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which recognizes that their forests are managed to the highest international social and environmental standards.
The cork oak tree quercus suber is a deciduous tree the leaves lobed and it produces acorns. An individual oak grows 9=12 meters tall. A cork tree can live to about 200 years.
It was interesting to see trees with bands of bark cut from all around the tree. We noticed many trees with bands of cork cut. We also saw trees with a small square cut in the bark , I guess this was a tester area to check the thickness of the bark. In one are we saw rolls of the cork bark lying on the floor awaiting collection. Apparently the cork can be harvested like this every 9 years. It does not harm the tree and the tree regroups more bark.
We did not see this but apparently pigs are turned out into the forests in the autumn and they eat the acorns. Wild pigs can also be found here.
These woods are good for birds providing nesting areas The Park Nacional de donate especially good. Then there's the Acornocales Natural Park, as you can guess from the name it's called after the acorn .Another natural park area I have visited is the Sierra de Grazalema
If you wish to know what flora and fauna there is in these parks go to http://www.andalusia-web.com/natureparks_details.htm there are descriptions of the parks and lists of birds there better than I could provide.
This area of cork woods is inland of Malaga and Granada so if you are visiting the coastal areas of Spain and wish to go inland for a day it is well worth it. Before we go on holiday we always investigate by looking for good websites one is http://jellymail.net/Andalucia%20Wildlife.htm Then there's http://www.slowtrav.com/gmaps/viewmaptext.asp?map=15 . There is a fair map of the area at http://www.slowtrav.com/gmaps/viewmaptext.asp?map=15
There is some concerns that because plastic corks and stoppers are now being used for wine that the cork forests will not become necessary so they will diminish in number as they will not be a good cash crop. However we use cork in many other ways too. Cork flooring tiles, cork trays coasters and the goods old dart board, cork has also many applications in industry.
Thank you for reading my review the first time I saw these trees I was fascinated as I had not really thought about where cork s from wine bottles came from.
Pictures of Cork Woods of Andalucia
Woods in Andalucia
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Lovely review, sounds really interesting! Good point about where the corks come from...I had no idea until now. Wine fairy perhaps? You learn something new! x
MarcoG 14.07.2008 19:29
Very nice review. I agree with Tallulah, the woods look beautiful :) x
torr 06.07.2008 20:09
A lovely bit of country, and the cork trees themselves are fascinating. I'm amused that Ciao have sold links to advertisers for Cork, Ireland, alongside this review!
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