Cork forests at risk from switch to screw-top wine
I came across this article by Steve Connor of The Independent (a UK publication). It shows an interesting argument about using natural cork closures...
Here's the first part of the article, and click here:
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article484095.ece to read the whole thing.
"Up to three quarters of the unique cork oak forests of the Mediterranean could be lost within 10 years because of the increasing popularity of the screw-top wine bottle.
The move away from traditional stoppers made of cork threatens the survival of one of Europe's most important wildlife habitats, according to a study by the conservation group WWF.
WWF - formerly the Worldwide Fund for Nature - is lobbying for the wine industry to reverse its headlong rush to screw tops and plastic stoppers in the hope of preserving a man-made habitat that is rich in wildlife.
Environmentalists argue that the projected demise of the Mediterranean cork oak forests will result in the loss of 62,500 jobs as well as a habitat loved by the endangered Iberian lynx, the Barbary deer, the black vulture and the imperial Iberian eagle."