Think about the procedure the next time you unscrew a bottle of wine. Bark tissue is used by the fashion and architecture industries in addition to the wine industry.            

Morocco, a country that generates approximately 6% of the world's natural cork, is changing its harvesting practices from using an axe to a more intelligent and effective one. The business is introducing a new lightweight, battery-operated saw that measures the cork bark's depth.
The National Agency for Water and Forests' director general, Abderrahim Houmy, claims that this method is less harmful to the trees and more successful at removing bark.

The second objective is to increase the harvest of cork. This procedure allows us to avoid small fragments with low market value and obtain large-size boards.
Houmy says the new technology will also help the company adapt to the shorter and more variable harvesting season that climate change is bringing about.

With the aim of introducing the new method throughout Morocco by 2025, a pilot program to educate cork technicians is presently underway in the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region.

The Moroccan Association of Cork Industrialists claims that a two-year stretch of relentless drought has caused an unprecedented period of standstill in the industry.

Mohamed Anas, the organization's president, is optimistic that putting the new technologies into practice will assist give Morocco's sector the much-needed boost.

We will operate in a healthier and cleaner manner with this machine. This means that instead of using axes as we did in the past, the machine will take care of the tree's bark, which will lead to less injuries," he explains.

The technicians claim that by using a saw instead of an axe, they will be able to create more cork in less time, which will not only make their jobs easier but also enhance their wages.

Morocco exported 7,021 tonnes of cork goods in 2023, according to government data, generating around $20.5 million for the country's economy.