PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ISSUE IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER ONLY!
ANY PRODUCT ORDERED FROM THIS ISSUE WILL NOT BE DISPATCHED UNTIL THE OFFICIAL ISSUE DATE 4TH JUNE!
Made up of a mixture of minerals, decaying organic material, air, water and living organisms, soil provides the foundation for life on the land. As one of Earth’s precious and finite resources, soil must be used wisely and managed well.
Soil quality underpins our wellbeing – it helps to meet our basic needs for food, it stores and filters water, it helps to mitigate flooding and climate change, and it traps pollutants. Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy has a large stake in soil health - our soil-dependent primary industries create over 70% of the country’s export earnings and are major employers. It also supports recreation, from sports to gardening. The stamp issue for June focuses on the importance of soil for people and planet.
With thanks to Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research.
Stamps:
$2.90 Food Production - We grow most of our food in or on soils. Without soils, agricultural production would quickly become impossible. Crops would fail, livestock could not be fed, fields around the globe would remain bare, and our supermarket shelves would soon be empty.
$4.20 Biodiversity - Soil contains unparalleled biodiversity: one teaspoon of soil contains more living organisms than there are people in the world. Most of these are microscopic organisms creating or recycling nutrients for plants to use, underpinning all biodiversity further up the food chain - including us!
$4.70 Climate Regulation - Managed wisely, soils can help to alleviate the effects of climate change, by maintaining or increasing soil carbon stocks, and by soaking up rainfall, storing water, and preventing flooding during severe storm events. Managed poorly, soils can release large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and a single storm event can wash away huge amounts of soil overnight.
$5.50 People and the Land - Soils are central to the lives of all New Zealanders, even though we barely give them a second thought in our day-to-day lives. We build our houses and our roads on soil. We use them to grow our food, our natural fibres and timber. They filter our water, nourish our forests and our natural habitats.
