U.N. World Environment Day stamps highlight the beauty of Canada

By Denise McCarty

The United Nations is celebrating World Environment Day, June 5, by issuing six stamps six showcasing the natural beauty of Canada.

Canada is the host of this year’s World Environment Day. The theme is “Connecting People to Nature.”

World Environment Day is the United Nations’ “principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment.”

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The United Nations General Assembly designated June 5 as World Environment Day in 1972 in conjunction with the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Since 1987, a different country has hosted World Environment Day.

“In the spirit of this year’s theme, ‘Connecting People to Nature,’ I encourage all Canadians to explore our country’s beautiful natural areas, including our national parks, national wildlife areas, and migratory bird sanctuaries,” said Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna.

The UNPA’s World Environment Day issue includes two stamps for each U.N. post office: 49¢ and $1.15 for the office at U.N. headquarters in New York City; 1 franc and 2fr for the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; and €0.68 and €1.70 for the Vienna International Center in Vienna, Austria.

The stamps reproduce photographs of Canadian landscapes, two of which include animals.

The 49¢ stamp shows one of the formations at Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, and the $1.15 denomination depicts a polar bear on Baffin Island in the territory of Nunavut.

A snowy owl in Quebec is pictured on the 1fr stamp. An autumn scene of Canada’s red maples and aspens is featured on the 2fr.

The €0.68 denomination is the only stamp in the set to include a city scene. It shows the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, and also includes a view of the Ottawa River.

Pictured on the €1.70 stamp is Moraine Lake in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta.

Sergio Baradat of the United Nations designed the stamps using AGE Fotostock photographs by Bill Gozansky, Michael S. Nolan, Malcolm Schuyl, Don Johnston, Barret & MacKay, and Roy Langstaff.

Lowe-Martin of Canada printed the stamps by offset in sheets of 20.

Each stamp measures 50 millimeters by 35mm. Quantities printed are 110,000 each of the U.N./New York stamps; 80,000 each of the U.N./Geneva stamps; and 90,000 each of the U.N./Vienna stamps.

The first-day cover depicts Gonzalo Azumedi’s photograph of Jasper National Park in Alberta inside a maple leaf. A souvenir card also includes a symbolic maple leaf, along with a photograph of Canada geese in flight and a statement by Minister of Environment and Climate Change McKenna.

For ordering information for the World Environment Day stamps, visit the UN Stamp website, email unpanyinquiries@un.org; telephone 800-234-8672; fax 212-963-9854; or write to UNPA, Box 5900, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-5900.