Romfilatelia introduces for the first time, starting on Thursday May 11th, 2017, the joint issue Romania – The United Nations Post Office, entitled “Endangered Species”. Thus, this philatelic project is being launched simultaneously at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Vienna and New York.
The launching ceremony is held, in the same day, at the opening of the International Stamp Fair in Essen, Germany.
The postage stamps issued by the United Nations Post Office most often reflect the specific and distinct concerns of this international organization, drawing attention to relevant aspects of the contemporary world.
Romania, in its capacity as a member state of the UN, is fully aligned with the objectives of the organization and by this common issue of postage stamps brings to the attention of the collectors of philately – and not only – a very current theme: the critical situation in which some species of animals and plants face with the risk of extinction.
The four stamps of the issue are reproducing the images of the animals included in the CITES (the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of World Fauna and Flora) area of protection.
The issue is available starting on Thursday May 11th, 2017, in Romfilatelia shops from Bucuresti, Bacau, Brasov, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara.
On the stamp with the face value of Lei 2.20 is represented the Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila Heliaca). It is a large species of bird of prey that breeds from south-eastern Europe to western and central Asia. In Romania, these birds’ nests had disappeared for 50 years, only to reappear in 2016, in Arad county.
The Merlin (Falco Columbarius), reproduced on the stamp with the face value of Lei 2.50, is the smallest species of falcon from Europe and Romania, with numerous subspecies throughout North America and Eurasia. The use of certain pesticides between 1960s and 1970s caused some reproductive failure. With the banning of these pesticides their negative impact has fallen as indicated by breeding densities and distributions. In Romania, the Merlin is our guest in winter and is an agile predator which hunts small rodents and birds.
The Eurasian Otter (Lutra Lutra), illustrated on the stamp with the face value of Lei 2.70, lives in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, from lowlands to highlands. It is a carnivorous mammal, semi-aquatic, feeding mainly on fish. Otters are usually more active at night, especially in habitats where they are disturbed by human activities, but in quieter areas they can be observed during the day as well.
Overfishing at sea and poaching in estuaries and rivers for meat and caviar are a major threat to the Beluga (Huso Huso), presented on the stamp with the face value of Lei 16. Being a migratory species, it travels from the Black Sea, upriver on the Danube, seeking out deep spots with a hard riverbed, which is its reproductive habitat. In Romania, the beluga can be found in the Black Sea, but also in the navigable parts of the Danube, and exceptionally in the Razelm-Sinoe lagoon complex or the lower courses of large rivers.
This issue is completed by a set of tree different envelops equipped with the postage stamps of the issue of both Romania and United Nations Postal Administration and as page composition were used sheet of 32 stamps and minisheet of 5 stamps + 1 label and block of 4 stamps.
Romfilatelia thanks the “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History, the Romanian Ornithological Society, the Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development and photographers Sebastian Bugariu, Daniel Petrescu, Stelian Porojnicu for the documentary support granted in the creation of this postage stamp issue.
For further information, please contact the Public Relation Office:
Tel: 021 / 337 24 42
anamaria.anton@romfilatelia.ro
