Who is Miguel? Oak tree - a true story about cork "oak" up...

I have this friend who asked me if I knew someone called Miguel (Portuguese for Michael) because there was this American guy who was visiting Portugal with one mission: Save Miguel.

I had to think for a minute to remember myself of all the Miguel I know and then I realized how difficult it would be to find the one he was searching.

So I put myself forward to help him finding Miguel and if possible also to help saving Miguel.

When I first saw the American guy I thought to my self: "I know this guy!". And as soon as he spoke I immediately recognized him - it was Rob Schneider!

Can you believe that!? We talk for a while and he told me he was looking for this guy called Miguel but he did not knew much more about him.

We had some drinks (it was a very hot day) and we talk about some of Rob`s movies and how much I liked them all. In the end we jumped on the adventure of searching for Miguel.

One thing I can assure you - Rob is really a great guy to hangout with, he is funny and most of all he is a very kind human being who is concerned about our future. He really is a Man on a Mission!

Now I know you are all demanding why I did not appeared in the video and the answer it is obvious: I was behind the camera. You know, I am a little shy...

After a while I was starting to demoralize myself because there were no evidences that we were going to find Miguel. But Rob never gave up, not even for a second.

He was really determined to find and help Miguel.

I can not explain to all of you the excitement and emotion we experienced the moment we finally found Miguel.

Such a lovely old cork oak tree with so much to give and yet still in danger of being killed. Rob could not control itself and he jump into Miguel`s arms for a big loving hug.

We talk with Miguel and he told us that he was not the only one needing help. I could not believe what I was hearing but after looking to Rob`s face I realized that there was nothing we could not do to help Miguel and his family.

And that was the main reason for me to make this hub and show this story to all of you out there.

LETS` SAVE MIGUEL`S FAMILY!!! THE SOUTHERN PORTUGUESE CORK OAK FOREST NEED TO BE SAVED!!!

This type of tree lives between 100 and 300 years and they can be harvested every 9 or 12 years which makes them a renewable and sustainable “fountain” of natural resources. Cork beside being a natural material and environmentally friendly it´s also completely biodegradable and easily recycled.

The cork oak forests (“montados” in Portuguese) also prevent much of the consequences of forest fires due to its thick bark they are protected from fire and heat. This is even more important if we think that cork forests are among the higher biodiversity places in the Mediterranean and Europe.

There are 135 other plant species and 42 bird species (not to talk of insects) which live in those montados and are now also endangered or even critically endangered.

What can we do to help!?

Basically, everyone of us can start helping cork oak (Miguel) by only buying wine with cork stoppers and never buy wine with screw caps or plastic stoppers.

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Cork vs Climate Change

Harvesting cork bark helps preventing climate changes by removing CO² and preventing the greenhouse effect so much talked about for so many years now. Just in Portugal cork oak trees help offsetting 4.8 million tons of carbon every year and that is not all because they are also big oxygen producers.

For centuries cork oak trees has been the main native trees of Portugal and now they are being cut down by real estate speculators and WE got to do something against it!

Why not starting by planting a cork oat tree at Save Miguel home page, you will feel better after you done so.

LONG LIVE PORTUGUESE CORK OAKS AKA MIGUEL!

Another good way to help the cause is to spread the word! You can do that by telling your friends about it and sharing this hub with all the people you can (feel free to use the Share it link bellow, thanks).

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Cork has been used to cork up wine bottles for centuries and has an important role in wine conservation.

Recently more than 160 champagne bottles which were under water for almost two centuries were found on Finland`s waters.

Amazingly the wine was in good conditions much thanks to the good quality cork used.

The world's oldest drinkable champagne will have its corks replaced by new ones to assure it will keep its qualities for longer.

This operation is being prepared with the collaboration of the main Portuguese cork company - Corticeira Amorim.

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More about Cork:

The Many Uses Of Cork by darkside

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