Date of Issue : 15 July 2011
The United Nations declared 2011 the International Year of Forests. To coincide with this, the South African Post Office issued stamps on forest birds as its theme for a new set of stamps in the South African bird series.
The birds depicted on the set of five stamps are the green twin spot, olive bush-shrike, Cape parrot, Knysna turaco (lourie) and the African crowned eagle.
In South Africa, indigenous forests cover only about 0,25 percent of South Africa's land surface. With a few exceptions, such as the forests of the Knysna area and the KwaZulu-Natal coastal dune systems, forests are small, usually occupying less than 1 000 ha. These forests provide shelter to some of South Africa's most spectacular birds.
Source : International Stamp News
