The first measures to protect the cork were taken in the XIV century. The Ministry of Agriculture of Portugal controls the state of the cork forests. Thanks to a reasonable and careful attitude to its “cork pantry”, the country produces about 155,000 tons of high-quality crust per year and has more than 1,100 flours- producing cork-producing companies.

Portugal cares not only for its cork forests: recently the Portuguese lobby in UNESCO has achieved the adoption of laws to protect cork oak from illegal exploitation around the world, which established strict rules for thinning, cutting and harvesting bark.

Cork oaks can be found on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in Italy and in France. Rare strips of plantations can be found along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Sicily, Calabria, Algeria and Tunisia, mixed forests in Sardinia and Corsica.