A broad inventory of Catalonia’s cork oak forests, promoted by the CTFC within the framework of the FORMES project, will make it possible to create growth and cork production models to predict productivity and carbon storage potential, as well as to guide their management and conservation.
Catalan cork—an undisputed protagonist in the production of wine stoppers, insulation materials, and even aerospace applications—is at the center of an unprecedented project. For the first time, Catalonia will have the largest database on cork oak forests, updated data on the growth of Catalan cork, and its own model for cork growth and production. This is thanks to extensive fieldwork and data processing carried out by the Multifunctional Forest Management group at the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), within the framework of the FORMES projection system.
FORMES aims to develop forest management projection tools tailored to Catalonia’s climatic and territorial conditions. In 2025, the focus has been placed on cork oak forests, ecosystems with high productive and environmental value but subject to multiple pressures such as land abandonment, the impact of climate change, or the appearance of pests like the cork borer. “If we understand the current state and potential of Catalan cork oak forests, we can improve their management and conservation, as well as boost the sector by providing more precise information and management tools,” explains Míriam Piqué, head of the Multifunctional Forest Management program at the CTFC.
200 plots across four bioregions
The forest inventory has been designed to represent the diversity of Catalonia’s cork oak forests, distributed across four major bioregions: Montnegre, Montseny, Gavarres, and Empordà. In total, 200 study plots have been established in 68 private forest estates, with the collaboration of the Catalan Forest Owners’ Consortium, which facilitated contact with landowners and contributed to the installation, measurement, and data collection in the plots.
Each plot, ranging from 300 to 1,500 m², has been characterized through detailed forest measurements (diameter, height, tree and shrub cover, etc.) and the collection of cork samples. Half of these plots will be permanent, enabling long-term monitoring and the gathering of more robust data for models and other assessments related to biodiversity, forest health, vulnerability, and more.
Sample processing: a precision task
Once collected, the cork samples are boiled to improve their physical properties and later polished to reveal the growth rings. These rings, which are harder to distinguish in cork than in wood, are then scanned at high resolution to measure their width and study growth dynamics.
The project focuses on mature cork, i.e. extracted from the second debark onwards, which is the type mainly marketed. However, samples of virgin-harvest cork have also been collected, both from managed and unmanaged trees, in order to analyze the impact of harvesting on productivity and carbon sequestration capacity.
Beyond cork: contribution to the Climate Credit System
The knowledge generated by the project will be integrated into the homonymous simulation platform FORMES, which allows forest managers and landowners to evaluate the impact of different management scenarios on production and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration.
This aspect is particularly relevant in the context of the recently launched Catalan Forest Climate Credit System. Accurate estimates of carbon stored in cork and in the entire tree will allow a better assessment of cork oak forests’ contribution to climate change mitigation.
Despite their socio-economic and environmental importance, the Catalan cork sector faces major challenges. Understanding the functioning and potential of cork oak forests is therefore key to ensuring their future. With its solid scientific foundation and the involvement of the sector, this project may become a decisive tool to advance towards more efficient, resilient, and sustainable forest management.
Last modified: 1 September 2025
