COVER N. 245 - UNITED NATIONS - VIENNA  

Postmark: Wien Vereinte Nationnen 14(?)0  - 17.04.23 

Posted on the 17th April; Received on the 2nd May 2023
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Another of Eric's suprise envelopes. This time from The Vienna Office of the United Nations.

Thanks a lot, Eric.

A funding member violates the Charter, and presides over the Security Council...all at the same time...

It really takes a lot of nerve.... but some people do have it, don't they, Mr. Lavrov?

How on hell will we ever be able to reform the UN?

In the meantime, let's just look at the beautiful images on the stamps. They are soothing and relaxing... a far cry from those that come out of the Ukraine these days....

The four stamps on the cover belong to a set of eight, (3x0,15; 3x0,20; 0,55 and 0, 75€) issued on 24OCT2003, dedicated to World Heritage Sites in the USA. 

Of note is the fact that the 0,55 and 0,75€ stamps are identical to one of f the 0,15 € and another 0,20 €, although the colour of the green frame around the image is slightly different.

The three 0,15 € stamps on the cover feature images of :

- Olympic National Park - This park, located on the Olympic Pensinsula in the state of Washington, on the Northwest corner of the USA, bordering British Columbia in Canada,   gets its name from Mount Olympus.

The park was inscribed in the WHS list in 1981 and a full description of the raguments that led to its classification can be found here.

Think of Sequoias and Ansel Adams and Alex Honnold’s absolutely incredible free climb solo ascent of El Capitan... Yosemite National Park is located in Sierra Nevada, in the state of California, and is probably one of the most famous Parks in the world.

It was inscribed in the WHS list in 1984, and its entry on UNESCO's site can be checked  here.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park extends over an area of 2,114.15 km2, spread across the states of North Carolina and Tennessee in the southeast of the US, encompassing several ranges of the Appalachian Mountain chain.

It made it to the list in 1983 and its entry in the UNESCO site can be consulted here.

The Everglades....alligators and fast moving airboats.... Located on the southernmost tip of the Florida Peninsula, the Everglades National park, due to its inherent characteristics, is a site of outstanding importance in terms of biodiversity associated with wetlands.

It was inscribed in the WHS list in 1979, and its entry on UNESCO's site can be checked here.

The Postmark, indicates that the cover was mailed from Vienna as expected 😀.

COVER N.69 - United Nations - Vienna

Postmark: Wien Vereinte nationen 16JAN22 
Posted on the 16th January; received on the 1st February
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Once again I have to thank Roland for another very nice cover, this time posted from the Vienna branch of the United Nations Postal Administration.

Year after year the UN Postal Administration has been issuing a series of stamps in  blocks of four se-tenant items each dedicated to the theme of endangered species. Since the UN Postal Service has three branches - New York; Genéve and Vienna - each one issuing stamps in their corresponding denomination - Dollars; Swiss Francs and Euro - every year the spotlight is shone over 12 species that we all take for granted but that may one day disappear mainly due to the loss of their habitat as a result of human activity, as it has happened in the past with a variety of species.

The beautifully executed stamps on my cover are part of the 2021 UN Wien block of four 0,90€ stamps issued on 07APR2021 and they showcase the braided nail-tail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) a small nocturnal wallaby endemic to Queensland, Australia, of which there are only an estimated 500 individuals in the wild, thus having earned the "Vulnerable" conservation status accorded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Of note is the fact that This particular species was thought to be extinct by 1937 until, in 1973, a small population was identified as still living in the region of Dingo, Queensland.

The other 0,90€ stamp features the  Buru babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa), a member of the Suidae family, that comprises all pigs and wild boars. Endemic to four Indonesian Islands, it is also classified as "Vulnerable", data from 1996 estimating that between 4,000 and 5,000 individuals still lived in the wild, but in risk of prey by huntsman, and loss of habitat due to logging.

COVER N.3 - United Nations - Vienna

Postmark from Wien - Vereinte Nationen, posted on the 21st May, received on the 26th.
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Third cover just in. This time not from a country, but , in a way, from a whole plectora of them. 

The United Nations Office in Vienna - UNOV - established on the 1st January 1980 is one of the four existing United Nations Headquarters, the other being located in New York, Genève and Nairobi. 

UNOV integrates the Vienna branch of the United Nations Postal Administration - UNPA - responsible for issuing stamps denominated in Euro, while the New York and Genève branches issue stamps in their local currencies, i.e., U.S. Dollars and Swiss Francs.

The stamps issued by the UNPA can only be used on mail sent from the United Nations Offices in New York, Genève or Vienna.

Thank you so much for such an interesting cover, Florian.

The stamp on the right side of the cover was issued in 2011, as part of a two stamp set (0,62€ and 0,70€), also issued in se-tenant format, on the subject of the International Year of the Forests, while the two 0,20€ stamps on the left are part of a two stamp set issued in 2010 (0,05€ and 0,20€), commemorating the International Year of Biodiversity. 

The fish depicted in the stamps is a striped cowfish (Aracan aurita), in an illustration taken from 1904's Kunstformen der Natur, by German biologist and scientific illustrator (amongst many other things) Ernst Haeckel.