Netherlands - Blue Cat World Trip,

 

Thank you so much Annelies!

Netherlands - Inge Loo No.19 & No.218,

 

Thank you Jacqueline!

Netherland - Inge Look Aunties No.31,

 

Thank you Emma!

Netherland - Year of the Rabbit card,

Thank you so much Phương Liên!
 

Netherland - Inger Look card,

 Thank you so much Helen!

Netherland - Year of the Tiger,

This card is written in my langague -vietnamese and I was quite happy when I touched it in my hand. A card to celebrate Lunar new year and written in vietnamese, it is wonderful for Tết.

 

Thank you cremebrulee!

PC#169 #170 Netherlands, UNESCO site: Wadden Sea & Schokland and Surroundings;

Sent: ?

Arrived: 10 Feb 2017 

Wadden Sea

UNESCO site
Date of Inscription: 2009

The Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world, with natural processes undisturbed throughout most of the area. The 1,143,403 ha World Heritage property encompasses a multitude of transitional zones between land, the sea and freshwater environment, and is rich in species specially adapted to the demanding environmental conditions. It is considered one of the most important areas for migratory birds in the world, and is connected to a network of other key sites for migratory birds. Its importance is not only in the context of the East Atlantic Flyway but also in the critical role it plays in the conservation of African-Eurasian migratory waterbirds. In the Wadden Sea up to 6.1 million birds can be present at the same time, and an average of 10-12 million pass through it each year.

Criterion (viii): The Wadden Sea is a depositional coastline of unparalleled scale and diversity. It is distinctive in being almost entirely a tidal flat and barrier system with only minor river influences, and an outstanding example of the large-scale development of an intricate and complex temperate-climate sandy barrier coast under conditions of rising sea-level. Highly dynamic natural processes are uninterrupted across the vast majority of the property, creating a variety of different barrier islands, channels, flats, gullies, saltmarshes and other coastal and sedimentary features.

Criterion (ix): The Wadden Sea includes some of the last remaining natural large-scale intertidal ecosystems where natural processes continue to function largely undisturbed. Its geological and geomorphologic features are closely entwined with biophysical processes and provide an invaluable record of the ongoing dynamic adaptation of coastal environments to global change. There are a multitude of transitional zones between land, sea and freshwater that are the basis for the species richness of the property. The productivity of biomass in the Wadden Sea is one of the highest in the world, most significantly demonstrated in the numbers of fish, shellfish and birds supported by the property. The property is a key site for migratory birds and its ecosystems sustain wildlife populations well beyond its borders.

Criterion (x): Coastal wetlands are not always the richest sites in relation to faunal diversity; however this is not the case for the Wadden Sea. The salt marshes host around 2,300 species of flora and fauna, and the marine and brackish areas a further 2,700 species, and 30 species of breeding birds. The clearest indicator of the importance of the property is the support it provides to migratory birds as a staging, moulting and wintering area. Up to 6.1 million birds can be present at the same time, and an average of 10-12 million each year pass through the property. The availability of food and a low level of disturbance are essential factors that contribute to the key role of the property in supporting the survival of migratory species. The property is the essential stopover that enables the functioning of the East Atlantic and African-Eurasian migratory flyways. Biodiversity on a worldwide scale is reliant on the Wadden Sea.

Sent:?

Arrived: 10 Feb 2017

Schokland and Surroundings

UNESCO site
Date of Inscription: 1995

The struggle of the people of the Netherlands against water has endured, for more than six thousand years, and still continues today; without constant vigilance, more than half the present area of the country would be entirely submerged or subject to periodic inundation. Schokland was a peninsula that by the fifteenth century had become an island. Occupied and then abandoned as the sea encroached, it had to be evacuated in 1859. Following the impoldering of the Zuider Zee, however, it has formed part of the land reclaimed from the sea since the 1940s. Schokland has vestiges of human habitation going back to prehistoric times. It symbolizes the heroic, age-old struggle of the people of the Netherlands against the encroachment of the water. As a result of the colossal reclamation programme that began in the early years of the 20th century, Schokland and the settlement mounds and other human interventions that surround it stand as mute testimony to the skill and fortitude of the Dutch people in the face of this never-ceasing natural threat.

The contours of the former island of Schokland above the flat lands of the reclaimed Noordoostpolder are still easy to trace in the topography within the former island — there are four large village terps, all of them protected archaeological sites. A fifth such site includes traces of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements.

The remains of dykes and terps located outside the present island reflect the former contours of the island and the land that has been lost over the course of time. Also located outside the present island, but within the boundaries of the World Heritage property, are more than 160 archaeological sites with remnants of prehistoric occupation. A church and church ruins, residential and commercial buildings, barns, a former harbour, and land division patterns (both old and new) go to complete the story of Schokland.

The area provides exceptional evidence of a cultural tradition of island-dwellers threatened by the water and ultimately evacuated; the first residents on the land reclaimed from the sea cultivated and developed that new land. The area is an exceptional example of a traditional type of settlement and land use that is representative of cultures, primarily when these have become vulnerable due to the influence of irreversible change.

Thank you Maik!

Cover#53 Czech

Another letter reach my home today with a lot of stamps from diver countries from my friend in Czech. Yupiiii....

Sent: 12/1/2015

Arrived: 21/1/2015

He sent me also a Hongbao for the Lunar New Year even, Year of the Goat. Traditionaly, in this festival, we give Hongbao with money inside to the child as the don of lucky . Especialy in the north of Vietnam, there are no only the child but also the adult who has not got married given Hongbao as a wish to find his loved one.

Thank you so much Trung!

PC#018 Netherlands, Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout

Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout

UNESCO site

Date of Inscription: 1997

The outstanding contribution made by the people of the Netherlands to the technology of handling water is admirably demonstrated by the installations in the Kinderdijk-Elshout area. Construction of hydraulic works for the drainage of land for agriculture and settlement began in the Middle Ages and have continued uninterruptedly to the present day. The site illustrates all the typical features associated with this technology – dykes, reservoirs, pumping stations, administrative buildings and a series of beautifully preserved windmills.

Source: UNESCO.org

Sent: 10/10/2014

Arrived: 27/10/2014

Thanks Kelly!