COVER N. 563 - FRANCE - NEW CALEDONIA

Postmark: Nouvelle-Calédonie Pondimié 26.02.2025 

Posted on the 26th February; Received on the 10th March 2025

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Thanks to Eric and Marianne for the opportunity to add another cover from a rather uncommon origin to my collection.  Muito Obrigado Eric; Un grand Merci, Marianne.

La Nouvelle-Calédonie is not the kind of place that you hear much about in the news, and I am sure the fact that it is the most distant territory under administrative supervision by another country anywhere in the world highly contributes for this.

In fact Nouméa, the capital, lies 16,000 km away from Paris...

We have a saying in Portugues: longe da vista, longe do coração... away from the eyes, away from the heart.... and although I'm sure that a relationship that has endured since the mid 19th century must have extended its roots deeply into the administrative framework that governs it, the geographical remotness and the natural socio cultural diferences it implies must pose strain on the relation...

Since the 80's independence has been the subject of at least three referenda. So far, those prefering to maintain the ties with the French Republic have been the majority (although not an overwhelming one), but things are far from settled as attested by the events of 2024, which led to the declaration of a State of Emergency and the reinforcement of the military presence on the islands, following protests that caused at least 13 deaths.

At the root of the protest, as far as I understand it, was a constitutional ammendment passed by the French Parliament  allowing immigrants coming from the mainland recently residing in New Caledonia to vote in local provincial elections, what  was considered by the Kanak population (the indigenious population of the islands) as a way of diluting the strenght of their vote  and reinforcing that of those opposing indepence.

Things have since became calmer as diplomacy makes its way behing the stage curtains, but the independence impetus is quite a strong force to contend with, so only time will tell if Nouvelle Calédonie will one day cease to be a sui generis collectivity of the French Republic to become a full fledged independent state.

Marianne used three very nice stamps from a set of four, all with a face value of 110 Francs, issued on 08NOV2018 in souvenir sheet format, dedicated to the pollinators of New Caledonia.

From Left to right we have:

- our well known common European bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) which was probably locally introduced by Europeans settlers;

- a Flying fox (Pteropus Ornatus) endemic to New Calledonia, with a "Vulnerable" IUCN classification

- Crow honeyeater (Gymnomyza aubryana), an endemic bird also endemic to New Caledonia and the South Pacific, which is classified as being Critically Threatened.

The 30 Franc small stamp is part of a 4 definitive stamp set illustrated with a stylised image of a Kagu, (Rhynochetos jubatus) the national bird of New Caledonia where its is also endemic.

So far this set has been reissued several times, since the first issue in 2016. The stamp on the cover is the 2019 imprint.

The postmark hails from Pondimié, on the east coast of Grand Terre, the archipelago's main Island

Marianne kindly included in the cover  a nice postcard with a map of New Caledonia