The montado, a forest that grows in Portugal and in other Mediterranean countries, is the natural habitat of the cork oak tree and of many other unique specie
Every nine years, high skilled workers use all their experience to strip the cork oak tree, a very hard job performed during the hot spring and summer months. After being removed from the tree, raw cork comes in light and large curved planks.
After harvesting, cork oak trees are marked in white paint signaling that they should not be harvested before during the nine years that follow.
When the bark of a cork-oak tree is harvested, a new layer of cork grows back slowly during those nine years, allowing it to continue to absorb carbon dioxide while preserving the montado and the maintenance of natural species.
This is a happy ending story of the balance between humans and nature. After the harvest is finished and the natural cork planks are stacked, the montado says goodbye to human presence. See you in nine years...