United Nations World Heritage FDCs

United Nations FDCs
Name: World Heritage - Germany
Date of Issue: 07 May 2009

Denominations:
44c: Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen
The town hall and the statue of Roland on the marketplace of Bremen in north-west Germany are outstanding representations of civic autonomy and sovereignty, as these developed in the Holy Roman Empire in Europe. The old town hall was built in the Gothic style in the early fifteenth century, after Bremen joined the Hanseatic League. The building was renovated in the so-called Weser Renaissance style in the early seventeenth century. A new town hall was built next to the old one in the early twentieth century as part of an ensemble that survived bombardment during the Second World War. The statue stands 5.5 m tall and dates back to 1404. This site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004.

98c: Aachen Cathedral
The Aachen Cathedral was the first German cultural monument to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978. The cathedral, which was built between 790 and 800 under the Emperor Charlemagne, is of universal significance to the history of art and architecture. It is also one of the great icons of religious architecture. Contemporaries declared the Palatine Chapel of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne to be a miracle of the art of construction — of half divine, half human conception. The Palatine Chapel, with its octagonal basilica and cupola, is the first vaulted building north of the Alps. It is heavily influenced by the building traditions of classical antiquity and by Byzantine architecture.

Comment: The quality of real posted FDCs from U.N. are too bad, My friend did his best, but the US Postal's clerk never add a UN local postmark on the additional stamps, and both new stamps on these FDCs were damaged during the process. It's too bad :(

United Nations Insects FDC

United Nations FDC
Name: Endangered Species 2009
Date of Issue: 16 April 2009

These are the seventeenth set of stamps in UNPA's multi-year series "Endangered Species". The series was launched on 3 March 1993 to highlight the need for the protection of endangered species throughout the world. This year the series "Endangered Species" feature a variety of insects.

Denominations:
42c: Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)
The emperor dragonfly is one of the largest European dragonflies, with a length of 8 cm and a wingspan of 11 cm. It is a spectacular sight, with broad wings and powerful flight.

After emerging from their larval stage, both sexes are pale green with brownish markings. The legs are brown, becoming yellowish towards the base; the wings have black veins, and take on a yellowish-brown tinge with age.

Males develop a bright blue abdomen with a black fish-bone line passing down the centre; the thorax and head are green, and the prominent eyes are blue.

Females have similar markings to males, but are mainly green in colour, becoming brownish on the last few segments of the abdomen.

This dragonfly has a broad global distribution; it is found in Europe from Portugal to Germany in the north, and extends eastwards to Central Asia. It is also known in North Africa and the Middle East.

The species breeds in a range of aquatic habitats, including large ponds, canals, slow-flowing rivers, lakes and flooded gravel pits, but in all cases there must be a plentiful supply of marginal vegetation that emerges from the water.

Many dragonflies are vulnerable to water pollution and loss of habitat by infilling of ponds and drainage of water bodies.

42c: Southern Wood Ant (Formica rufa)
The southern wood ant is commonly found throughout southern England in both coniferous and broad leaf broken woodland and parkland. They are the largest native ant species of the Brit ish isles, measuring 8-10 mm in length,
and they all are generally reddish in colour.

Nests of these ants are large, conspicuous, dome-shaped edifices, usually situated in woodland clearings, where the sun's rays can reach them. A single colony can consist of more than 250,000 individual workers, which aggressively defend the territory.

A common diet for a wood ant colony is invertebrates found around the nest, particularly aphids harvested from the surrounding trees, although they are also voracious scavengers.

Studies of the southern wood ant have shown that around 60,000 food items are taken to the nest each day.

Although the reasons for the decline are not fully understood, it is thought that loss of woodland habitat and unsuitable management practices leading to overgrowth of sunny areas, as well as disturbance by humans and livestock, may be involved.

42c: Rosalia Longicorn (Rosalia alpina)
The rosalia longicorn is one of the most striking and elegant of all beetles, with its beautiful steely blue-grey colouration and
large, dominating black spots. The extremely long antennae on the front of the head are also adorned with groups of black hairs, which contrast dramatically with the blue-sky colour of the bare parts, appearing as alternating bands of black and blue. Males can be distinguished from females by their longer antennae, which can greatly exceed the length of the body.

The species is wide-ranging, from Northern Africa, across Europe and the Middle East to the Russian Federation. It lives in deciduous forests where there is a reasonable amount of sunlight exposure. Larvae develop in dead, decaying, relatively dry wood, or on living trees in wounds and abrasions. Although adults are capable of flight, they are often content to simply remain on or near the tree trunks in which they developed as larvae.

The rosalia longicorn is largely threatened by habitat loss and destruction due to changes in methods of forest maintenance and felled wood processing. Trees are being cut down and harvested for timber and firewood before they reach a suitable age to be able to support developing larvae, and dead wood is being rapidly removed to facilitate "reforestation". The rosalia longicorn also suffers from collection from the wild for commercial trade, with its distinctive pattern and bright colour making it attractive to collectors.

42c: Apollo Butterfly (Parnassius apollo)
The Apollo is a beautiful white butterfly, decorated with large black spots on the forewings and red eyespots on the hindwings. These striking red eyespots can vary in size and form depending on where the butterfly comes from. The bright red colour often fades in the sun, causing the eyespots of older individuals to appear more orange. The wings are shiny, with slightly transparent edges.

The Apollo butterfly is found throughout Europe and into Central Asia. It inhabits mountain meadows and pastures, up to 2,000 metres above sea level, where there are plenty of nectarproviding flowers.

The beautiful Apollo butterfly has long been prized by collectors, who aim to possess as many of the variants as possible. Over-collecting is believed to have caused populations to decline in some areas, such as in Spain and Italy, but habitat change is thought to be a far more significant threat to the survival of this species. Climate change and acid rain have also been implicated in its decline.

Laws exist to protect the Apollo butterfly in many countries. It is also listed in CITES Appendix II, which restricts trade in this species.

United Nations Flowers FDC

United Nations FDC
Name: New Definitive stamps New York
Date of Issue: 06 February 2009

On 6 February 2009, the United Nations Postal Administration issued three New York definitive stamps to meet make-up postage rates.

Denominations:
1c: Cielo rosado
9c: Rosa de sangre
10c: Espiritu de mujer

Comment: 1. It hasn't invisible U.N. emblem on these stamps; 2. I finally got the postmark from United Nations New York.

United Nations Thant FDC

United Nations FDC
Name: 100th Anniversary U Thant
Date of Issue: 06 February 2009

The year 2009 marks the centenary of the birth of U Thant, who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971. He was selected to head the world body when Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld was killed in an air crash in September 1961.

U Thant was born at Pantanaw, Myanmar (formerly called Burma), on 22 January 1909, and was educated at the National High School in Pantanaw and at University College Yangon (formerly called Rangoon). Prior to his diplomatic career, U Thant’s experience was in education and information work.

At the time of his appointment as Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations, U Thant had been Permanent Representative of Burma to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador (1957-1961). During that period, he headed the Burmese delegations to the sessions of the General Assembly, and in 1959, he served as one of the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly’s fourteenth session. In 1961, U Thant was Chairman of the United Nations Congo Conciliation Commission and Chairman of the Committee on a United Nations Capital Development Fund. During his diplomatic career, U Thant served on several occasions as Adviser to Prime Ministers of Burma.

U Thant began serving as Acting Secretary-General on 3 November 1961, when he was unanimously appointed by the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Security Council, to fill the unexpired term of the late Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld. He was then unanimously appointed Secretary-General by the General Assembly on 30 November 1962 for a term of office ending on 3 November 1966.

U Thant was re-appointed for a second term as Secretary-General of the United Nations by the General Assembly on 2 December 1966 on the unanimous recommendation of the Security Council (resolution 229, 1966). His term of office continued until 31 December 1971.

U Thant retired at the end of his second term in 1971 and he died on 25 November 1974 after a long illness. He was 65 years old.

Comment: This is my first real posted FDC from United Nation. This stamp embellished with gold foiling, if you use UV light, you can see an invisible U.N. emblem on this stamp. I don't know whether this invisible emblem always appears on U.N. stamp.