Animal Poaching awareness

 

South Africa Post issued a set of stamps featuring six endangered South African species to raise awareness of illegal animal trade.

Mlu Mathonsi, acting Group CEO of the Post Office, said a total of 50 000 stamp sheets will draw attention to the plight of the oribi, black rhino, grey crowned crane, ground hornbill, sungazer and Cape parrot.

The six were selected by the Endangered Wildlife Trust, an organisation founded in 1973 with the purpose of protecting South Africa’s threatened wildlife species. The artwork on the stamps is by Alan Ainslie, a wildlife artist who has exhibited with world-renowned artists such as Raymond Harris-Ching (New Zealand), Keith Joubert (South Africa) and Paul Bosman (US).

“But the Post Office is doing more than raise awareness. The Endangered Wildlife Trust has trained staff at South Africa’s international mail centres so X-ray machine operators know how to identify animals and animal parts in parcels to foreign countries”, Mathonsi said.

Animal poaching is an increasing global phenomenon. In Southern Africa, poaching has increased at an alarming rate. The situation has become so bad that local newspapers have labelled our national wildlife parks “killing fields”. Estimated to be the third largest illegal industry worldwide after drugs and human trafficking, poaching often has its roots in organised, trans-boundary crime and is among the most serious threats to the survival of plant and animal populations.

Poaching has a detrimental effect on biodiversity both within and outside protected areas. As wildlife populations decline, species are depleted locally, and the functionality of ecosystems is disturbed.

It is believed that sophisticated rhino and other wildlife theft networks are in operation, using helicopters and trucks to “strip South Africa of its wildlife”. Wildlife organisations in the country are therefore forced to continually increase security measures to protect our conservation areas and their wildlife.

Newq Stamp on Tourism theme

Laško – Tourist’s favourite destination

Slovenian Post  released a special stamp that depicts Laško – one of the most famous tourist destinations of Slovenia on the 7^th of March.

Laško is particularly renowned for the tradition of beer brewing and healing water springs. Wellness and health tourism are based on honey and beer treatment and are accessible to all.

The countryside around Laško offers pleasant spots, surroundings with its cultural and natural heritage intact. Unspoilt and interesting landscape is waiting to be discovered and explored. They invite you to countless mountain and hiking trails crisscrossing the local hills and valleys, leading through forests, over meadows and pastures.

In Laško, a large number of food and drink tastings take place all year round, as do several displays and presentations of local growers, craftsmen and artists.

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First underground Post Office of the world

 

Date of Issue : 22 March 2013

Slovenia Post issued a souvenir sheet on 22 March  2013 featuring world’s first underground Post Office  of the world.

The first underground Post Office

Postojna Cave is the most famous cave in Europe, welcoming half a million visitors each year. In its 200-year tradition of tourism, the cave’s beautiful dripstone formations have been admired by 35 million people, including 150 monarchs. The cave extends for 21 kilometres. Tours of the cave have been possible for 141 years via the cave railway. It is a cradle of bio speleology, and an area with the greatest diversity of cave fauna in the world, since in addition to the proteus or “human fish”, it is home to the first cave beetle, Leptodirus hochenwartii, and 100 other species of cave fauna. Prior to the appearance of postcards, the cave had already
enjoyed a long tradition of tourism.

The number of postcards sent from Postojna grew markedly at Whitsuntide and the Feast of the Assumption, when mass events and dances were held. For this reason the cave management sent a request to the Austrian trade ministry in Vienna for the opening of a post office in the cave.

Postojna Cave – Underground Post Office

Date of Issue : 22 March 2013

On 15 August 1899, next to the Dance Hall, 500 metres from the entrance to the cave, the first underground post office in the world was opened. It used the postmark “ADELSBERGER GROTTE – POSTOJNSKA JAMA”. At first the post office was open only on special occasions, but after 1911 it operated regularly, with a record 75,000 postcards being sent at that time on Whitsun Monday, and thereafter 6,000 to 11,000 were posted each day. Even during the First World War, when Postojna hosted the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian forces for the Soča (Isonzo) Front, the underground post office stayed open, and continued to operate between 1922 and 1927, after the annexation of Postojna to the Kingdom of Italy. At that time the post office used the postmark “POSTUMIA (GROTTE)”. In May 1927 a second underground post office was constructed in the Concert Hall, 1400 metres from the cave entrance, and this operated up until 1945.

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