Farming Australia: Native Plant

The stamps issued by Australia Post on May 17th 2011,  represents four of Australia’s largest native horticultural industries: eucalyptus oil, honey, macadamia nuts and tea tree oil. All four commercially cultivated industries have an export market. Designer of these stamps is Wayne Rankin .

Eucalyptus Oil:

The Eucalyptus oil industry, which began in 1852 in Victoria, has been called the first truly Australian industry.

Today Australia accounts for only 10 per cent of the total world production, but it is regaining some of the market share for medicinal oil lost to China.

Australian oil derives from the Blue Mallee, grown mainly in central Victoria with some production in NSW. Eucalyptus oil has a wide range of industrial and medicinal uses.

Australian Honey:

The honey industry is worth about $50 million annually of which around 50 per cent is exported. Bees are declining worldwide and consequently. Australian honey is highly sought after.

While the honey bee Apismellifera is not native to Australia (introduced in 1822) 80 per cent of honey is derived from native flora such as eucalyptus flowers. Honey is produced in every state and territory, with 45 per cent coming from NSW.

Macadamia Nuts:

 

Australia is the world's largest producer of macadamia nuts, with the industry currently worth around $110.7 million.

 

NSW accounts for more than 60 per cent of production and Queensland for around 40 per cent. There is also a tiny industry in Tasmania. Around 75 per cent of Australian macadamia nuts are exported. 

 

 
Tea Tree Oil:

A potent natural compound with antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties.

Tea tree oil is our second most successful native horticultural industry (after macadamias), earning around $30 million annually.

 

The tea tree Melaleuca alternifolia is native to the northern rivers region of NSW. Main Camp in northern NSW is the world's largest tea tree plantation. (Resources: Australia Post)

 

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Australian World Heritage Sites

On 25th of  May 2010, the Australia Post has issued the stamp series  features four UNESCO World Heritage sites in Australia. They are the Purnululu National Park in Western Australia, Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, Mount Warning in the Gondwana Rainforests, and the Tasmanian Wilderness.

 

The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia were first inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986. They include discontinuous rainforest that occurs in New South Wales and south-east Queensland, surrounded by eucalypt forest and agricultural lands. They contain an almost complete record of the major evolution of plant life on Earth.

 

 
 

The Tasmanian Wilderness is one of three temperate wilderness areas remaining in the southern hemisphere that covering approximately 20 per cent of the state. It contains rocks from almost every geological period and it is recognised as an “International Centre for Plant Diversity”.
 

 

Purnululu National Park in Western Australia was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003 as an outstanding example containing the major stages in the Earth’s evolutionary history, superlative natural phenomena, and areas of exceptional natural beauty. Found in the isolated east Kimberley region, it covers almost 2,400 square kilometres.       Kakadu National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in three stages over 11 years, and is included for its natural and cultural values. Kakadu is located in the tropical north of Australia, some 130 kilometres east of Darwin, and covers 19,804 square kilometres.

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Australian Beaches - International Stamps

 
 

Australian Beaches are beautiful  and  inherent with “ 3 S”, Sun, Sand  and Surf . Australia is  renowned for these, and three of its most beautiful beaches are shown on these stamps that issued by Australia Post on June 28, 2011. The stamps designed by Janet Boschen. 

 

 
Bay of Fires, Tasmania

The Bay of Fires in north-eastern Tasmania is located within Mt William National Park. The rocks and stones along the beach are visible reminders of the land bridge once connecting Tasmania to the mainland. It was named by Captain Tobias Furneaux, in 1773, when he noticed numerous fires along the coast. 

Cape Tribulation, Queensland

Cape Tribulation, in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in northern Queensland, is in one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. The Eastern Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal people are the traditional owners of this area. The Cape was named by Lieutenant James Cook after his ship, Endeavour, was holed on a reef in 1770.

Hellfire Bay, Western Australia

Hellfire Bay is located east of Esperance in Cape Le Grand, one of Western Australia’s best known and most spectacular national parks. The park is named after Le Grand, an officer of the L’Esperance, one of the ships in a French expedition that sailed in 1792. 

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“Nature Heritage Objects of Lithuania - THE STONE OF PUNTUKAS”

The Puntukas Stone is the second-largest, but the best known and visited boulder in Lithuania brought by glaciers from Scandinavia, which covered Lithuania during the last glacial period dating back almost 20 thousand years. 

The boulder stranded on the bank of the Šventoji River in a short distance from Anykščiai. A block of rapakivi (crumbly Finnish granite) measuring more than 7 metres in length and width, almost 6 metres in height (one and a half metres underground) weights 265 tons. It is believed that the ancient Balts performed religious rituals at Puntukas. 

In the middle of 20th century within the years 1942-1943, to commemorate in Lithuania the 10th anniversary of transatlantic flight performed by Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas, the sculptor Bronius Pundzius engraved the portraits of the pilots and the quotes from their last will dedicated to the young State of Lithuania turning the stone into a unique monument of culture.

The souvenir sheet consist of one single stamp featured the Puntukas Stone with background of forest. This sheet has designed by H. Ratkevičius. and issued on August 20, 2010.

Nature Protection: Šumava - UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

The Šumava Biosphere Reserve is to preserve the typical Šumava landscape and all of its traditional elements including the way of its cultivation. The biosphere reserve is located in the mountain area along the Austrian and Bavarian borders with the Czech Republic. The entire region was affected by human activities (such as gold mining, glass industry) and frequently used from as early as the 10th century. Šumava is also the last big central European area with an extensive way of using. The area abounds in ancient mountain forests, lakes of glacial origin, peat bogs, rivers and their canyons and similar values that have been preserved until the present day.

Unlike the Šumava National Park with a higher percentage of forest (83.8%), forests (flower and acidophilic beech woods, mountain spruce woods, wetland pine woods) are present in more than 65% of the Šumava Biosphere Reserve. Local peat bogs are clearly the highlight of the area. The plains that cover the central part of Šumava at more than 1,000 meters above the sea level are also extensively used. The vast area is used as meadows or pasture land.

A large number of rare animals, such as Northern birch mouse (Sicista betulina) or the imported Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), live in the area. Prominent wild birds include wood grouse (Tetrao urogallus) and black grouse (Tetrao tetrix). The Blanice river headwater area has the highest presence of freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) in the Czech Republic.

The Šumava-UNESCO Biosphere Reserve miniature sheet is the final one of the present series of six sheets featuring Czech biosphere reserves.This sheet was issued on 31. 8. 2011

THE OAK OF STELMUŽĖ - Nature Heritage Objects of Lithuania.

The Stelmužė Oak is one of the most famous and important nature heritage objects of Lithuania. It is the thickest and oldest oak growing in Lithuania and one of the oldest oaks in Europe.The oak is growing in the Zarasai District, Imbradas Subdistrict, the former Stelmužė Manor Park. The remarkable tree reaches 23 metres of height, as much as 3,5 metres wide and spans approximately 13 metres at its widest part. It is believed to be about 1500 years old, although the exact age has not been estimated.

The Lithuania Post issued a souvenir sheet features the Stelmužė Oak on June 5, 2010. Only one stamp has issued as reminder of the importance of nature heritage objects of Lithuania.Designer of stamp is H. .Ratkevičius.Legends and stories say that in ancient time’s people, having gathered around the oak, sacrificed goats, sheaves of rye, and jugs of mead to the god Perkūnas praying for a good harvest and success in hunting.

Despite the fact that over time the oak has lost a part of its branches as a result of drying or breakage, it still looks magnificent and each spring comes into leaf and still attracts tourists. Due to proper care and maintenance, the Stelmužė Oak survived until nowadays.

BuzzNet Tags: Lithuania,Oak

”LITHUANIAN ZOO“

Lithuania Post issued the stamp series depicts the animal of the Kaunas Zoo on May 21,2005. The stamps issued in one souvenir sheet comprises of 4 stamps and designed by E. Paukštytė. The animal depicted are  Giraffe,  Pelican,Electric blue Jack Dempsey fish, and Polar bear.The zoological garden is a unique school of knowledge introducing visitors to natural and cultural values.

On the 1st of July 1938, the Kaunas Zoo was officially opened in the Mickevičius Valley under the initiative of naturalist Professor Tadas Ivanauskas. On the 4th of December 1958, the Kaunas Zoo was granted the name of a Republican Zoo.

The Zoo of Lithuania belongs to the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and participates in the Programme on Breeding of Rare and Endangered Species. Also, it is a member of the International Zoo Educators Association and the International Species Information System.

The Lithuanian Zoo is a small 15,9 ha park located in the city centre where centennial oaks are growing. The park is decorated by art sculptures. On the opening day, there were only 40 animals that had been brought by Professor Tadas Ivanauskas himself. Some animals were brought as gifts from the zoos of other countries. Nowadays, the number of animals living in the Zoo reaches 2500. More than 10 animal species living in the Zoo are included into the Red List of Lithuania, and more than 100 species are included into the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Zoo, the animals of 6 classes are kept: insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammalians.

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Snæfellsnes National Park - SEPAC

The theme of the joint issue of 11 small nations in Europe (SEPAC) is landscape. The motif of the Icelandic stamps in this third and last issue is Snæfellsjökull (Snæfell Glacier) National Park. SEPAC stands for Small European Postal Administration Cooperation. This cooperation is primarily concerned with issuing postage stamps but also includes sales and marketing.

The name of Snæfellsjökull  has been known in the world through the novel of French author Jules Verne  with the  title of „Journey to the Centre of the World“.

Snæfellsjökull National Park was founded by a legislation on nature conservation in June 2001 and is the fourth national park in Iceland. The area is characterized by its extremely diverse geology. Formerly it was the site of hectic activity with up to 60 fishing boats and 300-400 seamen during the fishing.

Snæfellsjökull National park lies in the westernmost part of Snæfellsnes peninsula and covers 170 square kilometres.The Park's purpose is to protect and conserve the area’s unique landscape, indigenous plant and animal life as well as important historical relics.

The Snæfellsnes peninsula coast line is very varied.  Rocky coves  alternatewith black sand beaches, light sand beaches and precipitous sea cliffs that teem with sea birds in the nesting season. The lowland within the national park is mostly lava that has flowed from Snæfellsjökull and from smaller craters in the lowland.

As one would predict, the most prominent birds in the area are seabirds. They nest along the entire coastline, and among the species found are guillemot, Brunnich’s guillemot,razorbill, fulmar, kittiwake and shag.

Soil in the outer stretches of Snæfellsnes tends to be quite permeable, but vegetation in the area is nonetheless quite diverse. The coastal area is rich in vegetation and has many clear ponds containing colourful seaweed and cupus.

Thick moss covers the lava in most places, while flowers thrive in sheltered nooks and crannies.The ferns are the most conspicuous. Out of the 16 species of fern found in Iceland, 11 grow here.

Snæfellsjökull  National  park offers a wide variety of hiking routes of all levels of difficulty. Some of them are staked or marked, and most of them are easy to navigate.Resources:  Environment Agency of Iceland

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