Featuring paintings by New Zealand artist Rachel Walker, these stamps have been created to celebrate Forest & Bird’s 100th birthday in 2023. The stamps represent the organisation’s heritage (whakapapa) by depicting landscapes and species of significance to the society’s supporters. They feature four main areas of Forest & Bird’s conservation work - terrestrial, freshwater, marine and climate - and significant flora and fauna. They pay tribute to the people who have worked to protect and restore nature for the past 100 years.
$1.70 Kāpiti Island, Greater Wellington
Representing Kāpiti Island Nature Reserve with native forest birds kōkako, tīeke, kākāriki and tūī, this stamp reflects Forest & Bird’s origins, island bird sanctuaries, restoration, conservation volunteers and legacy.
$3.00 The Catlins, Otago
Heroing the forest-inhabiting tautuku gecko, this stamp also features the Gollum galaxias fish, giant southern rātā flowers, pekapeka long-tailed bat and endemic creeping foxglove. The artwork aims to capture a sense of discovery and hope through New Zealand’s unique biodiversity and fresh water.
$3.80 Waitākere Ranges, Auckland
Featuring the tāiko black petrel, kauri, tohorā southern right whale, werewere-kōkako blue mushrooms, neinei (spider wood) and Cook’s petrels flying off the coast, this stamp represents the seabirds of Aotearoa, marine protection and the vital connection between the land and the ocean.
$4.30 Buller Plateau, West Coast
A forest ringlet butterfly is pictured with an Avatar moth, a giant land snail (Powelliphanta patrickensis), pygmy pine, windswept mānuka and eyebright flowers. The artwork reflects on the changing climate, nature’s fragility, conservation activism and the future.
