Implications of Philately in Promoting the Protected Natural Areas (IV): Domogled-Cerna Valley National Park

Romania is a blessed place with many areas of unique beauty, and with the most interesting species of flora and fauna for research as part of the natural heritage with places where the spectacle of nature delights your eyes and take your breath with every step. Constantly promoting philatelic themes that use natural wealth and the beauty of our country as subjects, the administrative entity (with various names over time) responsible for issuing postage stamps performs a series of postage stamps in whose images are found rarities of flora and fauna, a miracle of nature. To show that Original Research Article Cioruța et al.; AJGR, 3(4): 94-102, 2020; Article no.AJGR.63117 95 protected natural areas have a special beauty, and to make them known to everyone, in this paper, we bring to the discussion the most significant philatelic peculiarities in the Domogled Cerna Valley National Park. Also, through this paper, we tried to highlight the main post-philatelic effects (postage stamps, first-day covers FDCs, illustrated postcards, maximum postcards, occasional envelopes, and other postal circulations), which appeared at the level of Romanian thematic philately, concerning the studied area. Through their prism, we tried to show that besides the role of ambassador of beauties and national heritage, the thematic philately has implications in the protection of species of flora and fauna. About other areas of interest, where the philatelic products were not highlighted, it can be mentioned that in the considered area (Domogled Cerna Valley National Park) the management of the protected area only had to gain.

protected natural areas have a special beauty, and to make them known to everyone, in this paper,

INTRODUCTION
Domogled -Cerna Valley is a protected area of national interest that corresponds to the second category IUCN (national park), located in the southwestern part of Romania, on the territories of Caraş-Severin, Mehedinți and Gorj counties [1,2].
The natural area is located in the central-eastern part of Caraş-Severin county (on the administrative territories of Cornereva, Mehadia, Teregova, Topleţ and Zăvoi communes and of Băile Herculane city), the north-western part of Gorj county (on Padeş commune and Tismana city) and in the northeast of Mehedinţi County (on the territories of Balta, Isverna, Obârşia-Cloşani and Podeni communes) and is to be crossed by the national road 66 A, to connect Hunedoara and Caraş Severin counties. From the point of view of geo-positioning, the area is between the coordinates 45°05′35″ lat. N and 22°37′27″ long. E, and 45°09′306″ lat. N and 22°62′417″ long. E, as it can be observed, at the schematic level, in Fig. 1 [2-4].
The park is a mountainous area with a great geological and geomorphological diversity (karst relief with sharp peaks, towers, needles, limestone ridges, caves, quays, valleys, forests, and meadows), which has several types of habitats [1,3].

Fig. 1. Reference area of Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park (Romania) [2,3]
The first proposal for the establishment of the Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park took place in 1990, and it will be declared a protected area by Law no. 5 of March 6, 2000 (on the approval of the National Spatial Planning Plan -Section III -protected areas) [5]. In 2003, by Government Decision no. 230 of 4 March [6] (on the delimitation of biosphere reserves, national parks, and natural parks and the establishment of their administrations) restores its boundaries and area.
From a geographical point of view, the park stretches over the Cerna river basin, from its source to the confluence with the Belareca river, over the massif of Godeanu Mountains and Cerna Mountains on the right slope, respectively Vâlcanului and Mehedinţi Mountains on the left slope. The surface of the Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park is of 61,211 ha and is comprised between the northern latitudes of 44º 50 '10 "and 45º 16' 50", and the eastern longitudinal latitudes of 22º 23 '50 "and 22º 51' 35". Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park is located in the east of Caraş-Severin county, occupying an area of 23,185 ha, in the west of Mehedinţi county occupying an area of 8,220 ha, and in the west of Gorj county with an area of 29,806 ha.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The documentation for this paper started from the authors' concerns for environmental education and environmental protection [7,8], and not least, because they love the idea of a harmoniously developed community, with care for protected areas and the biodiversity that populates them [9,10]. Having at hand a series of extremely relevant studies at the national level, both in terms of the management of protected areas [11][12][13] and the philatelic issues published in catalogues and journals [14,15], the authors decided to extrapolate those approaches to the relatively limited space of the existing ecosystem in Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park. The subject of the study, in the form of a philatelic circuit of Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park, is based on the sites that host philatelic content (such as Colnect, Delcampe, eBay, PicClick, Okazii, StampWorld, wopa-plus, etc.), which come in addition to discussion forums and online meetings with other collectors and passionate philatelists. They were kind enough not only to clarify some purely philatelic aspects to us, where the consulted literature left room for interpretations, but, in some cases, they also made available study materials, including pieces from their collections.

Domogled -Cerna Valley National
Park from an Ecological Perspective

Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park from a Philatelic Perspective
From a postal-philatelic point of view, the research undertaken on the main e-commerce sites with philatelic content (Colnect, Delcampe, PicClick, Stamp World, wopa-plus, etc.) led us to identify the pieces reproduced in Fig. 2 [16] and On the stamp of the lacy package of the issue with a face value of 28.50 lei (see Fig. 4), is shown Zamenis longissimus, also called the Aesculapian Snake, which, wrapped on a stick, is the symbol of medicine [22]. Aesculapian snake is a non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The length of this specimen can reach up to 2 m. It has a slender appearance, small and narrow head, long and thin tail. The back is brown with many scales, long with white stripes. When caught, it quickly gets angry and bites, hence being called in some areas "bad snake". The issue of postage stamps is completed by the set of two FDCs -first-day covers (see Fig. 5), the set of four maximum postcards (see Fig. 6), and as layout forms were used the sheet of 32 stamps, the mini-sheet of 5 stamps + 1 vignette, and the block of 4 stamps in the philatelic album (see Fig. 7) [22,23].
The philatelic album is made in a limited edition of 245 copies and is equipped with the special block of the issue (containing four lacy stamps with illustrated cuff), as well as the envelope "first day" with the stamp "first day" clearly applied with folio, both products being numbered from 001 to 245. Edraianthus graminifolius ssp. kitaibelii (Fig. 7a) is a xero-mesophilic species, which grows as a perennial herbaceous plant. The plants are low and their stems can be from 1 cm to a maximum of 20 cm [22]. The leaves are alternately arranged on the stem, and the lower ones are mainly petiolate. The blue-purple flowers are individually grouped, bell-shaped and hermaphroditic. Due to the small area in which it can be found, this species is protected.
Primula auricula ssp. Serratifolia (Fig. 7b) also called the Banat Cuckoo's Cube or the Bear's Ear, it is among the species with the highest phytogeographic value in the Primulaceae family, representing an endangered taxon [22]. It usually blooms from April to the end of May. It is a perennial species that grows up to 20 cm in height. Yellow flowers grow in clusters on stems 5-20 cm long. The specific epithet auricle means "ear-shaped" and refers to the shape of the leaves.
Testudo hermanni (Fig. 7c) belongs to the Testudinae family and is characterized by the carapace of 12-24 cm, which is convex, yellowbrown with dark spots [22]. A tortoise can easily reach 25-30 cm in diameter at maturity and 2-3 kg in weight. In optimal living conditions they can live even over 75 years.
Lucanus cervus (Fig. 7d), known as the radish, it is a beetle in the Lucanidae family. Is also one of the largest and most remarkable beetles in Europe [22]. Characteristic are the large, reddish mandibles of the male, which resemble deer antlers and can be moved like pliers. In large specimens, the length of the horns can reach almost half of the total length of the beetle, which is 25-75 mm.
Regarding the technical characteristics of the "Natural Parks in Romania", they have been summarized in Table 1, and refer to stamps, as well as the block and souvenir sheet [22,23]. The philatelic album is created into a limited edition (only 245 pieces) and is equiped with the special bloc of the issue, as well as the FDCs.
As it has been shown so far, regarding the implications of the Romanian thematic philately in the promotion of the considered area, these are as obvious as possible. The richness of the post-philatelic material (postage stamps, first-day covers -FDCs, illustrated postcards, maximum postcards, occasional envelopes, and other postal circulations), which was, in turn, identified, indexed and analyzed, helped, over time, to promote the elements of interest in the area. Thus, those who chose to cross the threshold of the protected area (mainly tourists coming from abroad), saw the beauty of the postal materials translated into reality.
Moreover, through thematic philately, they already had a wealth of knowledge relative to the area. Although there is no clearly defined statistic in this regard, Domogled National Park -Valea Cernei thus managed to attract more tourists, and thus achieve its objectives due to the implications of philately compared to other protected areas where the implications of philately were ignored. How effective were the implications of philately in Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park in public awareness and the attraction of ecotourism? The answer is still a vague one. However, no implications have yet been reported on the behavior of tourists as a result of promoting the area through philately.

CONCLUSION
In the paper, we bring to the fore the area of Domogled -Cerna Valley National Park both from an ecological point of view -by presenting the species of flora and fauna in the form of a short inventory, and philatelic point of view -by analyzing, describing and disseminating the main pieces identified in within philatelic content ecommerce sites. We were impressed by the way in which over time the Romanian postal administration via Romfilatelia decided to promote protected natural areas, the pieces identified being of a rare beauty, especially those made in 2018, as part of the philatelic project "Natural Parks in Romania".
As a result of our research, it should be emphasized that where the implications of philately are visible (especially through the richness of the postal-philatelic material), a good policy is often outlined in terms of promoting the intrinsic values of the area. In this way, we consider it opportune to involve philately as an ambassador for the promotion of protected areas, especially where the management of these areas is deficient; the visibility of the area's heritage via thematic philately can be a good landmark in rethinking community development strategies in terms of ecosystem services.