This year’s EUROPA Stamp theme “endangered national wildlife” gives European postal operators the opportunity to showcase the threatened species in their country. PostEurop has therefore launched the 2021 most beautiful EUROPA stamps competition, to further bring awareness on the topic by depicting some of the most affected species in Europe, on beautiful stamp sheets.

PostEurop said that the variety of wildlife is vital to both the planet and its human inhabitants. However, scientists have alerted us that the biodiversity of our planet is in crisis. One out of eight million species globally are threatened with extinction, mainly due to habitat loss and fragmentation, unsustainable agriculture and climate change.

Malta will be issuing a €0.59 stamp in the Europa 2021 series on the 12th of May – The Mediterranean Chameleon – Chameleons are known for their ability to change their skin colour and shooting their tongue to capture insects. There are around 85 species of chameleons around the world. Most of these species may be found in Africa and Madagascar.

In Malta, there is one species, known as the Mediterranean Chameleon with a skin colour varying between yellow and brown through green to a dark brown. Chameleons maintain their territory on trees and live a solitary lifestyle.

Chameleons are not endemic to Malta, and they are thought to have been brought from North Africa by Jesuit priests in the 19th century and released in St Ignatius College in St. Julian’s.The Mediterranean Chameleon has managed to gain a foothold and survive here and nowadays may be found all over the Maltese Islands.

PostEurop said that “whether we are talking about climate change, forest fires, or man-made interventions in natural habitats, in recent years wildlife has been paying an extremely high toll. The European Red List includes more and more species that are threatened with extinction in Europe.”

It went on to say that as concerns grow, and the need for more sustainable development becomes a key topic on the global political agenda, it is extremely important for European postal operators to help raise awareness and lend a hand to prevent the extinction of as many of these species as possible.

According to the recent figures by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 2,887 species out of 15,167 assessed European species are threatened with extinction.

“Europe’s species are facing unprecedented pressures. From overexploitation of our natural resources and habitat destruction, to accelerating climate change, many of our plants and animals are being pushed to the brink of extinction. Europe must quickly act to effectively protect our native species and facilitate the recovery of those which are endangered. IUCN welcomes the EUROPA stamps competition as an initiative highlighting to European citizens what is at stake if we fail to act,” said Luc Bas, Director of IUCN European Regional Office.

PostEurop said that each postal operator has selected the species linked to their country. Featured motifs include the fast-declining European mink (Mustela lutreola), the Mediterranean subpopulation of Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) which has declined by more than 50% over the last 30-45 years, and the Critically Endangered Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus). Motifs incorporate special artistic features to further emphasise the critical nature of the threat.

PostEurop is therefore inviting all postal fans and philatelic enthusiasts to join them in this awareness campaign and promote this year’s beautiful entries featuring “endangered national wildlife”. Anyone can cast a vote for their favourite stamp of this 2021 EUROPA Stamps Competition, by clicking here.

The online competition will end on the 9 of September 2021 and the winning stamps will be announced at the PostEurop Plenary Assembly to be held in October 2021.

PostEurop is the association of European public postal operators, one of the constituent unions of the Universal Postal Union.

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