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Cork comes from the bark of the cork oak, a tree that grows mainly in Portugal and Spain. Unlike most trees, the cork oak survives having its bark removed. Skilled harvesters strip the outer layer by hand, leaving the trunk unharmed, and the bark slowly grows back. To protect the species, the law allows a tree to be stripped only once every nine years. A single cork oak can live for up to two centuries and be harvested many times.

Because the cork oak can regrow its —barkfruitroots after it is stripped, the tree is not —killedwateredplanted during harvesting, but the law still limits stripping to once every —ninetwentyfifty years.