Category - Touch
Subcategory - Stamps with moving parts / Odd Shaped Miniature Sheet / Odd Shaped Stamps
South Africa 2013 International Year of Water Cooperation with moving part
Issue date 20 March 2013
To raise awareness of the importance of using water wisely, an international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. The main aim of World Water Day is to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and to encourage the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater management.
The drop-shaped stamps issued by South African Post reflects five recognised water uses.
Human consumption
Clean drinking water is a precious resource and is essential for human health.
Purifying tap water is an expensive process; so it is important to close taps properly after use to prevent water loss. Taking shallow baths and short showers also uses less water.
Agriculture
Water is vital for irrigation and the production of food crops. South Africa’s water resources are limited and should be used sparingly.
One way to do this is to irrigate at in the eary morning or in the late afternoon to prevent water loss through evaporation or to install a drip irrigation system.
Industry
The use of wind turbines as a form of electrical generation has considerable environmental benefits when compared to the traditional method of burning fossil fuels, which uses a lot of water. Like all man-made things, wind power turbines have an impact on bat and bird species, but they are water-saving sources of electricity, because they hardly use any water.
Working for Water Programme
The South African Government established the Working for Water Programme to champion the fight against invading alien plants.
Invasive alien trees are being removed because they use tremendous amounts of water. Shown here is a previously unemployed worker removing alien trees from a riverbank.
Biodiversity
The Clanwilliam redfin (Barbus calidus) is one of many small fish species from South Africa that are found nowhere else. It is severely threatened by water abstraction for agriculture, industry, pollution, urban consumption and by alien bass and trout.
The Mauve Bluet damselfly (Proischnura polychromatica) illustrated here, which was thought to be extinct, was rediscovered after invasive alien plants and trees had been removed from the banks of rivers.
To view other stamps in this category click on the following link -
Stamps with Moving Parts
Odd Shaped Miniature Sheet
Odd Shaped Stamps
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