Submission

Cork trees are a natural tree of the Mediterranean basin and every summer in this region thousands of men work in the Quercus Suber forests. Sometimes they can be found only an hour away from major European cities, however this work, is quite unknown or miss-understood by the general public. The cork harvesters are the first in a long line of men and women who work with cork, a natural raw material. This projects intends to draw attention to these workers to explain the benefits of cork, cork harvesting, and sustainable forest management which helps to maintain biodiversity, avoid forest fires and desertification as well as generating work and economic opportunities for local and immigrant communities. These photos are part of a project started in 2018 centered in the activities in and around the cork forests of the northern region of Catalonia.