Implications of Philately in Promoting the Protected Natural Areas (VI)-Piatra Craiului National Park

Continuing the series of articles that promote the implications of thematic philately about protected natural areas, we stopped this time, on the Piatra Craiului National Park. As an area of national interest, the Piatra Craiului area has also been immortalized on various post-philatelic effects. From the multitude of philatelic pieces (postage stamps, envelopes on the first day of the show FDCs, illustrated postcards, occasional envelopes, etc.) that were identified, the reproduction was chosen only of those who contributed to the promotion of tourism potential. From landscapes to species of flora and fauna, of scientific interest and environmental protection, the pieces analyzed come to certify the idea that thematic philately is more than an ambassador of the intrinsic values of an area. In fact, by appealing to philatelic effects, the entire community had to gain in terms of the fact that tourists, mostly from abroad, had already provided access to tourist information and more. Original Research Article Cioruța et al.; AJGR, 4(1): 7-19, 2021; Article no. AJGR.63919 8


INTRODUCTION
The history of Piatra Craiului National Park begins quite early. In August 1921, Mihai Haret published in the scientific journal "La Nature" an article entitled "National Parks in Romania", where he expressed his hope that the first two national parks would be established by the end of the year. He also notes that "at the moment, the two societies (the Hiking Inn and the Romanian Naturalists' Society) are fighting for the establishment of national parks to be enshrined in law, and the first territories to be: the Letea forest in the Danube delta, the massif Bucegi and that of Piatra Craiului" 1. The story continues in the next period. In the article "The problem of nature protection in Romania", published on the occasion of the first congress of naturalists in our country, which took place between April 18-21, 1928, in Cluj, professor Al. Borza noted that "Piatra Craiului near Zarneşti is still principally designated to house in its upper area a large alpine reservation of hundreds of jugs. The Botanical Garden Directorate has also concluded a lawsuit in this regard. Here the particularly rich flora deserves to be taken out from under the ruthless pastoral regime. Only here does the carnation Dianthus callizonus grow" [ The purpose of designating the Piatra Craiului Massif as a national park is to conserve representative ecosystems in their natural state and create the conditions for recreation, visiting, and education, without these ecosystems being affected. In inhabited areas, the goal is to preserve the landscape resulting from traditional human activities. Starting with 1999, with the start of the specific project, respectively the Biodiversity Conservation Management, the Park administration is established. Due to the variety of plant and animal species, the presence of a large number of habitats of European importance, as well as the way the national park is managed, the Piatra Craiului National Park Administration received, in 2005, the European Diploma of the Council of Europe for Protected Areas, which was renewed for another 10 years in 2011 [6,7].

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The documentation for this paper started from the authors' concerns for ecological education and environmental protection [8,9], and, last but not least, because they love the idea of a harmoniously developed community with care for protected areas [10][11][12][13]. Having at hand a series of extremely relevant studies at the national level, both in terms of the management of protected areas [14][15][16], and the philatelic issues published in catalogs [17][18], the authors decided to extrapolate the respective approaches on the existing ecosystem in the Piatra Craiului National Park (Romania).
The subject of the study, in the form of a philatelic circuit of Piatra Craiului National Park, is based on the sites that host philatelic content such as Colnect, Delcampe, eBay, Okazii, PicClick, StampWorld, and wopa-plus, which come in addition to the discussion forums and online meetings with other collectors and passionate philatelists. They were kind enough to respond to our requests for information, where the accessed resources left room for interpretations, and to provide us with philatelic materials, including from their collections. As for the identified pieces (mostly illustrated postcards), they undoubtedly helped to promote the area among potential visitors; a simple view constituting a source of information, or even a premise for attracting curiosity about the illustrated image -if it has a correspondence in reality. About this aspect is summarized the beginnings of the role that thematic philately has in the harmonious development of the community, in the care of beauty and nature.
Also, regarding the identified pieces, it should be mentioned that they were once the basis for promoting the protected area, especially the aspects that it encompasses (mountain massifs, peaks, vertical walls with specific vegetation, and other forms of relief among the most varied, species of flora and fauna, etc). The promotion of the area considered in terms of postcards has had some impact on the development of local and regional tourism. Tourists thus have a series of information regarding the possibility to access the area, to cross the area on various specially arranged routes, including finding shelter in mountain refuges and chalets (see Fig. 1). At the same time, postcards remained as souvenirs or even entered the collections of many, thus having even a sentimental value.
Under the given conditions, we focused mainly on those philatelic effects that could expose the local and regional context, starting even with the explanation of the local toponymy -Piatra Craiului (Romanian origins), Königstein (German origins), or The King's Stone (English origins). In the same context of the exhaustive approach, we could find the connection between Romanian thematic philately and postcards marketing (where we perceive philately as a marketing tool). Therefore, the identified pieces were reproduced, somewhat synthetically, to (re)memorize the history and implications of thematic philately, and highlight various marked trails, mountain refuges, limiting factors, and other elements that give uniqueness to the protected natural area. The natural area has several types of habitatsalpine and boreal bushes, edging communities with tall grasses from the plains to the mountains and alpine, alpine and subalpine meadows, mountain meadows, caves where public access is prohibited 2, such as forests alluvial with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior, Dacian beech forests, forests on a calcareous substrate, acidophilous forests in the mountain region, rocky slopes with vegetation on siliceous rocks, herbaceous and woody vegetation along mountain rivers and calcareous debris and limestone the mountain to the alpine floor -which houses a diverse range of flora and fauna specific to Piatra Craiului.

Piatra Craiului National Park from an Ecological Perspective
The flora of the national park consists of plant species distributed in layers, per the geological structure, soil and climate characteristics, geomorphological structure, or altitude:

Piatra Craiului 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 led us to identify the pieces that we reproduced in Fig. 2  The illustrated postcards highlight the relief forms, as well as the typical mountain ecosystem; coniferous forests and lofty ridges are elements that appear repeatedly, to reveal the true nature of the area considered. For the uninitiated viewer, a trip to these lands is more than welcome, as part of the mountain tourism that can be done. The entire area cover the need for recreation and active relaxation, it is known that mountain hiking purifies and removes the daily stress specific to cities, and invites creativity and reflection.
In Fig. 4 in format landscape (a-d), respectively portrait (e-g), it is observed a little closer, for the first time, the lofty ridges of the Piatra Craiului Mountains, which support a relatively poorly developed vegetation, specific to the alpine regime, where only endemic and endangered species of flora are found. The vertical walls, as well as the snow-capped peaks, are also repeated in Fig. 5. In some places, the tourist activity was also captured (through the sight of travel or camping at the base of the slopes), thus emphasizing the idea that the area has potential for the development of mountain tourism.
To complete and fully outline the considered area, a series of maximum postcards are also reproduced. Thus, in Fig. 6a, is reproduced the maximum postcard made between 25-26.09.1982, at the Symposium "Man and nature face in front", bearing the day stamp work to do in this regard. However, we are confident that the situation will change, and that emphasis will be placed on promoting protected areas through philately, which from the outset has the status of ambassador in promoting the natural heritage.

CONCLUSION
In the paper, we bring to the fore the area of Piatra Craiului National Park, both from an ecological point of view -by presenting the species of flora and fauna living in that area in the form of a short inventory, and philatelic point of view -by analyzing, describing and disseminating the pieces identified in within philatelic content e-commerce sites.
We were also deeply impressed by the multitude of illustrated postcards, which come in response to thematic philately in promoting the intrinsic values of the area. Although there have been no philatelic issues dedicated exclusively to Piatra Craiului National Park, such as in the case of Ceahlau National Park, Retezat National Park, or even the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, there has been no negative impact on tourism or area management.
As a result of our research, we were able to identify and analyze the most diverse pieces that were the basis for promoting the area. Marketing through philately (illustrated postcards) inevitably led to the development of the local tourist activity, and in a lesser way to the conservation of the area. Under these conditions, the local intrinsic values of the area (in the form of various habitats, landforms, and spaces intended exclusively for tourism -tourist refuges, mountain trails, ski resorts, etc.) were reproduced and brought back to the memory of the community, as well as for the attention of future visitors.

COMPETING INTERESTS
Authors have declared that no competing interests exist.