Australian Succulents

Latest News & Updates

Stamp Suggestions


It seems the postage stamp suggestions on this website have aroused considerable interest.

I've received word from John Rayner a lecturer at Burnley University, who some years ago worked closely on the stamp series featuring indigenous food plants and he was most encouraging.
Especially as he is currently focusing a lot of his attention at university trialling native succulents and other waterwise native plants for roof top plantings, which he firmly believes has a big future.

Also other news just in from Royal Botanic Gardens across Australia are that they are working hard collecting seeds for the Millennium Seed Bank in the UK as well as for the equivalent facility in Melbourne.

The Minister of Environment launched this program in August 2005.
Twelve institutions and government departments in seven states and territories are racing against time to meet the deadline of collecting thousands of species of plant seeds over the four year life of the program to make a valuable contribution to the conservation of endemic, endangered plant species.
The collection protocols prioritise species that include a range of dry climate, salt tolerant, coastal, forage species, desert pioneer species and these all include many succulent plants.

Finally the Millennium Seed Bank Project in conjunction with many countries has varies key objectives one of which is to increase public awareness of the need for plant conservation - step forward Australian succulent plants on stamps.

Also Extract from correspondence just in:

'...regarding your stamp designs. They are fantastic, and a great improvement on many designs Australia Post has produced over the past few decades.

However, I must tell you that it is extremely difficult to crack Australia Post. Gerald McCraith, a past Chairman of the Australian Orchid Foundation, tried for years to get AP interested in producing Australian orchid stamps. Success eventually came when AP released two (I think) stamps in September 1989, during the same month as the First Australasian Native Orchid Conference.

If you can organise a First Australian Cactus and Succulent Conference somewhere in Australia you may stand a chance.

Good luck and very best wishes'.

 


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