Falkland Islands Definitives

Falkland Islands: Definitive new value and reprints

The Falkland Islands Post Office introduced a Christmas card rate of 20p for internal delivery and therefore require a new value within the Definitive series. The stamp depicts the Black-browed Albatross with Chick.
In addition, the Post Office is running low of stocks of the 25p and 5 pound stamps from the Birds Definitive series (the 5 pound stamp has particularly high usage for overseas parcel rates) and these two values have been reprinted and will be issued with the 20p value. All three stamps will carry a 2006 date in their margin.

Black-browed Albatross

The Black-browed Albatross is one of the world's most beautiful birds. It ranges across the entire southern ocean system. Their stronghold is the Falkland Islands, where over 60% of the world's population breed. But it is now classified as Endangered - two steps away from extinction. Populations in the Falklands have been declining at about 1% per annum. In the past ten years 38,400 birds have been lost. This has been largely caused by commercial longline fisheries, which kill birds as they feed on discards or bait and are subsequently hooked and drowned. Black-browed Albatross are also under threat from trawl fisheries, which accidentally kill the birds when they are struck by their warp cables. Fishing is the most important industry in the Falkland Islands, taking 250,000 tonnnes annually and generating an income of £20m in licence fees for the Government.

Conservation of Albatross and Petrels

Since 2001, Falklands Conservation and the Falklands Government Fisheries Department, in conjunction with the local fishing industry, has been developing and testing mitigation measures. Recognizing the concern for the severe decline of these seabird populations, the international Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels (ACAP) was ratified by the UK and the Falkland Islands in 2004. In the same year the Falkland Islands Plans of Action Seabirds for the long-line and trawl fisheries were adopted, setting out a strategy to reduce incidental seabird mortality.

Stamps in detail

Issue: Falkland Islands, 4 December 2006
Designer: Una Hurst
Print: Lithography by Cartor Security Printing
Perforation: 13 x 13.25 per 2cms
Stamp size: 25.6 x 38.48 mm

More information

Postage Stamps 2006
Stamps Falkland Islands
Victoria Cross
Bleaker Island
Birds stamp issue
Brunel's ss Great Britain
Truck transport