An Ecological Review of Romanian Philatelic Postage Stamps in Relation to Forest Fruits
Bogdan-Vasile Cioruța *
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - North University Center of Baia Mare, Office of Informatics, 62A Victor Babeș street, 430083, Baia Mare, Romania.
Mirela Coman
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, 3-5 Calea Mănăștur, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and Faculty of Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - North University Centre of Baia Mare, 62A Victor Babeș Street, 430083, Baia Mare, Romania.
Alexandru Leonard Pop
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - North University Center of Baia Mare, Office of Informatics, 62A Victor Babeș street, 430083, Baia Mare, Romania.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Forest products play a vital role in our lives in many ways we can imagine. Berries, for example, are still an important source of food, being of real use in defining a healthy diet and natural medicine. To show that there have been and still are concerns regarding the highlighting of the role of berries in the community, we set out, through this study, to analyze their entire Romanian philatelic history. Thus, through this study, we chose to index, analyze and highlight a series of philatelic issues, which appeared exclusively in Romania, since 1964, which make direct reference to berries. Most of the analyzed materials present the berries in the foreground, as independent postage stamps, but there are also exceptions to the rule. Some stamps capture only the theme tangentially, their illustration reflecting forest fauna species. Also, berries are treated both in direct relation to the fauna species that have berries as a preferential menu, and as part of another unique theme, medicinal plants. On all of this philatelic issues, we set out to make a brief presentation, going from postage stamps to first-day covers (FDCs) and then to maximum postcards and other circulated pieces.
Keywords: Berries, fauna, forest benefits, philatelic issues, stamps, natural products.