Why is natural cork so much better?

(Click to enlarge)

LOS ALCORNOCALES The question has been about for a long time, certainly, and more so when 'plastic' corks are gaining ground - or space in the neck of wine bottles. Naturally, there is a local interest in promoting the use of cork from cork oaks, which is why the Los Alcornocales ('Cork Oaks') Nature Park authorities, GDR, have organized a workshop called Naturalmente Corcho (which we translate as Cork, Naturally) for next Wednesday. Aimed at owners and employees of bars and restaurants mainly in Jimena, Castellar and Los Barrios, it is also open to anyone interested in the subject. It is also FREE. The workshop is scheduled to be held at 7pm at the Patio Andaluz Fco. García Lorca, in CASTELLAR NUEVO. Confirmation is requested 956 413 252 , 625 285 615 or e-mail corcho@alcornocales.org.

A guide to 'South of Los Alcornocales'

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR (and beyond) The Los Alcornocales Nature (not 'Natural' as is too often translated) Park promotion group, the Asociación Grupo de Desarrollo Rural de Los Alcornocales (GDR for short) has published a guide book to the municipalities bordering the southern limits of the nature park, which are Alcalá de los Gazules, Benalup-Casas Viejas, Castellar de la Frontera, Facinas, Jimena de la Frontera, Los Barrios, Medina Sidonia, Paterna de Rivera and San José del Valle. Not only does it include information on each of these places but also suggests routes by car. The only criticism we have is what appears to be less than accurate information on places to eat and stay,  as well as on some historical facts, which is certainly a shame as the booklet is evidently aimed at promoting tourism - it is called 'a tourist guide' on the cover. A shame too, and for the same reason, is that it is only available in Spanish (Prospero, under his TranslationHELP hat,  has offered to do a translation, at a price). Still, it is a handy thing that, in a bow to new technologies, includes GPS coordinates for just about everywhere in it. In Jimena, it is available at the Town Hall (until copies last), and we assume the same to be true elsewhere. (Watch this space for information on other such booklets.)

Deer, oh, deer!

A great YouTube entry we first saw on TioJimeno, who picked it up. It was shot by one 'Jimenaforest', whom we believe is a forstry worker. Worth seeing the ways of our local deer...

Magnificent walkers' guide to Jimena countryside

JIMENA The local walkers' society in Jimena, called Caminete de Luna ('Pathway of the Moon', approx., beautifully named after a street in the village) held a book presentation on Friday evening (photos and text of the event in another item). But it's not just any old book. This is a magnificent, practical work of art that contains 35 routes through the Los Alcornocales Nature Park (not 'Natural' Park, please!). The routes are of varying degrees of difficulty, and can take anywhere between less than one hour to nine and a half. The ringbinder makes it easy to remove each route and the waterproof paper it is printed on, very practical. But that's not all. The photography, mainly by José Manuel Contreras and Raúl Cárdenas but with contributions from others, is absolutely stunning - and serves to remind those of us who live just outside Los Alcornocales that we live as close to Paradise as we humans can. (More great big photos and descriptions below - but we promise not to go OTT again...)

Guardia rescue group of walkers lost in the hills

JIMENA (Agencies) It is all too easy to get lost in the cork forest of Los Alcornocales Nature Park, as a group of supposedly experienced walkers learned last weekend. Officers from the GC post at Jimena were alerted by a mobile phone call to the station, coming from the walkers themselves. They were lost, but thanks to the GC's exacting knowledge of the area, they were able to recognize some indicators. Having taken off for a long walk into the forest, they were now at a place known locally as Majada del Lobo. The search was on and the visitors were finally located and brought into the village safe and sound. This is hardly the first time this has happened in the park, and fortunately there are no injuries or worse to report. The Guardia Civil advises, though, that walking in these hills can be a risky business, however leisurely it may appear, so it is not a good idea to set out without excellent knowledge of the forest or without taking a guide.

Campaign against rural rodents

LOS ALCORNOCALES NATURE PARK (Source: EuropaSur) The cross in the photo is ready for birds of prey to perch, lying in wait for passing rodents, which become a scrumptuous meal. The idea is to combat the rodents that eat the young cork oaks, many of which have been planted recently in a reforestation programme.

Christella dentata is reborn

LOS BARRIOS (EuropaSur/Photo: by Imbala on Flickr) Christella dentata is a type of fern that had become extinct in Southern Spain, and especially in Los Alcornocales Nature Park, where the species was last seen in 2000. But all that has changed, since now it has been successfully re-established thanks to the work of the Laboratorio de Propagación Vegetal and the Nursery Network of Andalucía, both part of the Junta's Department of the Environment. They used a pioneering technique that involved germinating a variety of unidentified spores that had been collected in the last known place the fern had been traced. It took over a year of investigation and research but the first result was a surprise when it was found that some of the spores had turned into the 'extinct' Christella dentata.>

Environment to regenerate cork oaks at Pinar del Rey

SAN ROQUE (Agencies/Photo: Hansa Realty) The Junta's Department of the Environment has been carrying out tree felling at Pinar del Rey in order to cut back the forest density and thus regenerate the presence of cork oaks in this favourite spot. The trees chosen for felling are the weaker samples, leaving the stronger ones, which will also help what has beeen called la seca, a tree-borne disease that is seriously impacting cork oaks throughout the area, in particular in Los Alcornocales Nature Park. At the same time, invasive species such as the eucalyptus is being cut down and burned, while native species such as quejigo (gall oak) and acebuches (wild olive) are being planted.

'Los Alcornocales: Nature Park and Future Development'

JIMENA / LOS ALCORNOCALES
The future of Los Alcornocales Nature Park is to be discussed in a workshop at the Leopoldo de Luis Cultural Centre in Jimena (across the street from the Town Hall)  on April 22, starting at 9.30am under the title of 'Los Alcornocales: Nature Park and Local Development'. Aimed at businesses related to the park, such as tourism and agriculture, as well as to teachers and students, it is part of a progremme of environmental education that is being carried out over several months at Alcalá de los Gazules, Los Barrios and Jimena de la Frontera, all closely related to the park in various aspects of it development and conservation.