1805) "Endangered National Wildlife"Romania: EUROPA - 2021: Romfilatelia (Romanian Post) has issued a set of two Stamps of the values of 3.40Lei and 19.50Lei featuring critically Endangered Romanian Wildlife - The European Mink and The Great Bustard respectively: Date of Stamp set issue: 22.04.2021:
About Europa 2021 - Stamps:
EUROPA Stamps are special stamps issued by European postal administrations.
They bear the official EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark under the aegis of PostEurop in which Europe is the central theme.
EUROPA stamp issues are among the most collected and most popular stamps in the world and have been issued for over 60 years.
Every year a new theme is assigned by PostEurop and all participating countries issue stamps with their own interpretation of the theme. The theme for 2021 is "Endangered National Wildlife".
More about EUROPA Postage Stamps:
EUROPA Postage stamps (also known as Europa - CEPT - European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations - until 1992) are special stamps issued by European Postal Administrations/Enterprises and bears the official EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark under the aegis of PostEurop in which Europe is the central theme.
EUROPA stamps underline cooperation in the posts domain, aimed at promotion of philately. They also build awareness of the common roots, culture and history of Europe and its common goals.
As such, EUROPA stamp issues are among the most collected and most popular stamps in the world.
Since the first issue in 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a tangible symbol of Europe's desire for closer integration and co-operation.
In 1993, PostEurop became responsible for issuing EUROPA stamps.
When CEPT decided to focus more on telecommunications in 1993, PostEurop took over the management of the Europa issues. The CEPT logo was replaced by a new logo created by PostEurop i.e. the word "EUROPA" leaning towards the right hand side.
Each year, PostEurop's "Stamps & Philately Group" selects the EUROPA stamp theme:
1993 - Contemporary Art
1994 - Great Discoveries
1995 - Peace and Freedom
1996 - Famous women
1997 - Tales and legends
1998 - Festivals and National Celebrations
1999 - Nature Reserves and Parks
2000 - Common Design. Tower of 6 stars
2001 - Water - Treasure of Nature
2002 - The Circus
2003 - Poster Art
2004 - Holidays
2005 - Gastronomy
2006 - Integration through the eyes of Young People
2007 - Scout Centenary
2008 - Writing Letters
2009 - Astronomy
2010 - Children Books
2011 - Forests - International Year of Forests
2012 - Visit …. (for instance "Visit Finland" etc.)
2013 - Van of the Postman - Postal vehicles
2014 - Musical instruments - National musical instruments
2015 - Old Toys
2016 - Ecology in Europe - "Think Green". Common Design
2017 - Castles
2018 - Bridges
2019 - National Birds
2020 - Ancient Postal Routes
2021 - Endangered National Wildlife
2022 - the theme will be "Stories & Myths".
About Europa 2021 - "Endangered National Wildlife Stamps issued by Romfilatelia (Romanian Post):
This year’s PostEurop stamp theme is ‘Endangered National Wildlife’, and Romfilatelia has depicted two found in Romania, which are critically endangered:
These beautiful stamps feature species that are locally registered from critically endangered through to near threatened.
The Stamps:
Romfilatelia has put into circulation, on 22.04.2021 a postage stamps set of two stamps, illustrating two endangered species of the Romanian Fauna: i) the European Mink and ii) The Great Bustard.
Also, on the postage stamps and labels, elements visible only in ultraviolet light are printed. At the bottom of the stamps an animal footprint has been printed with ink that is only visible under a UV Light.
i) The European Mink ("Mustela lutreola") - Postage Stamp of Lei 3.40:
The first postage stamp of the issue, with the face value of Lei 3.40, illustrates the European mink (Mustela lutreola).
The mink lives near water, in swampy areas or near rivers, spending a lot of time in the water, looking for food.
It is a medium-sized mammal (30-40 cm long), with a slim, elongated body and limbs with interdigital webbing, which helps it to swim. It is a predatory species; it feeds on fish, amphibians, crustaceans, small mammals.
Once widespread throughout Europe, the mink has today become one of the rarest and most endangered mammals on our continent. In some Western European countries, it has disappeared since the eighteenth century, and today it exists in only a few countries, including Romania. On the IUCN Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the mink has the status of a critically endangered species – meaning it is only one step away from being declared extinct in the wild.
One of the causes is the destruction of the habitats of this species. Many vertebrate species have suffered from fragmentation and restriction of wetlands, to which water pollution has been added.
In Central and Western Europe, a major problem was the introduction of a foreign species, the American mink, which competed with the European mink for food resources and spread diseases that also infected European minks.
A direct cause of the decline was hunting, the thick and fine fur of the mink being highly priced.
At present, several large-scale projects are aimed at restoring European mink populations.
One of the areas where there is still a large population is the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR).
Romania is carrying out an extensive Conservation Project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund: “Ensuring a favourable conservation status for rescuing from extinction the European mink population – Mustela lutreola (species of community interest, critically endangered) – from Romania”.
The project is implemented by the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration in partnership with the Danube Delta National Research and Development Institute and includes -
- restoring natural areas in DDBR affected by construction
- reorganizing tourism in DDBR
- combating poaching
- awareness-raising actions, in all schools in DDBR localities, on the importance of biodiversity conservation.
On the second postage stamp of the issue, with the face value of Lei 19.50, is represented the Great Bustard ("Otis tarda"):
The Great Bustard is the largest bird species in Europe in weight - adult males can weigh more than 15 kg. (Females are much smaller, weighing 4-5 kg.) Another characteristic of males are the so-called “whiskers”, in fact modified feathers, which grow at the base of the beak and reach their maximum length (about 20 cm) during the breeding season.
The Great Bustard is a Plains bird; it lives in steppe meadows, but also on land cultivated with rapeseed, alfalfa, cereals.
It feeds on vegetation, insects and small vertebrates. The range of this species extends from Western Europe (Spain and Portugal) to Central and Eastern Asia.
The Great Bustard was once widespread in the Plains of Romania, but the spread of human civilization has profoundly affected this species: the vast desert meadows, where birds lived quietly, have been transformed into arable land, ploughed, irrigated, sprayed with pesticides, crossed by people and agricultural machinery; high voltage lines have appeared, which can lead to the death of many specimens, because the great bustards, despite their size, can fly at high speed.
To these were added hunting and poaching, the Great Bustard being considered not only a tasty game bird, but also a trophy.
The Great Bustard is a very vigilant bird and does not tolerate the presence of humans at less than 250 m away, making it difficult to shoot, but people have found ingenious solutions to get closer to the right distance for shooting.
The peasants hid, for example, behind silhouettes of cows, made of cardboard or wood. Another method was to hunt from the cart: the hunter was hiding under the mats, thus being able to approach the bustards, who were not afraid of carts and horses.
Eventually, hunting and habitat destruction led to such a drastic decrease in numbers, that in the 1990s the Great Bustard was considered to be extinct in Romania.
In recent years, several specimens have been observed in the west of the country and in Baragan, which most likely belonged to the populations of the neighbouring countries.
In 2020, it was a surprise to discover a nest with Great Bustard eggs on an agricultural land in Salonta, Bihor County.
Ornithologists from the Milvus Group Association, one of the most active NGOs in Romania in the field of bird and nature protection, hypothesized that the Great Bustards would have kept at Salonta “one last centre of resistance” and that there would be a small cross-border population of 40-50 specimens, occupying a territory located on either side of the border with Hungary.
So, the Great Bustard also lives in Romania, but it remains a vulnerable species and only through strict protection measures can this magnificent bird populating the Romanian Plains again.
A memorandum was drawn up under the Bonn Convention to conserve the Central-Eastern European Great Bustard population. Romania signed this agreement in November 2000.
A Natura 2000 Protected Area has been designated near Salonta, which bears the name of Cefa Fishery – Radvani Forest.
Although insufficient in area, it offers at least the advantage that here, investment projects that would adversely affect Great Bustards can be blocked.
Since 2017, a new package of agri-environmental measures has been implemented within the National Rural Development Programme, which provides compensatory payments for farmers who manage their lands by applying agricultural methods to protect the bustards.
“Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History has helped develop this postage stamps issue.
The Postage Stamps:
The two EUROPA Stamps of Lei 3.40 and Lei 19.50 issued in the set depicting the European Mink and Great Bustard respectively.
The Miniature Sheet (MS)of Stamps exhibiting two Stamps each of the two Variants.
The Full Sheets (FS) of 32 Stamps each of the two Variants with tete-beche.
In philately, tête-bêche (French for "head-to-tail", lit. "head-to-head") is a joined pair of stamps in which one is upside-down in relation to the other, produced intentionally or accidentally.
Like any pair of stamps, a pair of tête-bêches can be a vertical or a horizontal pair. In the case of a pair of triangular stamps, they cannot help but be linked "head-to-tail".
Mechanical errors during the process of production can also, result in tête-bêches. During the printing of stamps for booklets, the pages of stamps are usually printed in multiples from a larger printing plate. This can result in tête-bêche pairs.
Most booklet stamps are printed in sheets, each containing 4 booklets. Looking at such a sheet 2 booklets, one above the other, come in from the left with the other 2 sheets coming from the right which appear to be upside down.
Where the columns of stamps from each side meet there is therefore a row of tete-beche pars.
It is unusual for these pairs to find their way into the postal system, as the sheets are cut into individual booklet pages before binding into the distributed booklet.
A First Day Cover (FDC) shows stylised images of The Great Bustard and The European Mink at left.
At top right are affixed the two stamps issued in the set, cancelled with a special Handstamp/Postmark which has The Great Bustard printed in the centre. The Special Cancellation is of Bucharest Post Office and is dated - "22.04.2021".
Sheetlets of Five stamps and a coupon/label.
The two Maxi Cards.
Special Products:
This Philatelic Album has been presented with a limited run/print of 361 copies and contains a special philatelic block of four imperforated stamps and a label with a circular perforation, the First Day Cover, with the stamp clearly imprinted in foiling, and also a reproduction of a vintage engraving. Elements visible in UV light are printed on the stamps and the label.
The Special Philatelic Block, the First Day Cover (FDC) and the reproduced engraving are numbered from 001 to 361.
Technical details:
Issue Date: 22.04.2021
Designer: George URSACHI
Process: Offset
Colours: 4 Colours (+ ink visibile in UV)
Size: 33.0 mm x 48.0 mm
Stamp Values: 3.40L and 19.50L
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