WHC 2010 Youth Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp

Get to Know is proud to partner with Wildlife Habitat Canada to launch Canada's first ever youth wildlife habitat conservation stamp. The inaugural stamp, recently released, features the artwork entitled "The Beauty of Nature" by Ivy Liu, 2009 Get to Know Contest Winner.

WHC Youth Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp, featuring "the Beauty of Nature" by Ivy Liu

2010 Youth Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp Get the stamp
Order the stamps today! Proceeds from sales of the stamp support youth habitat conservation projects in Canada.

Comments About the Youth Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp Image

The artwork for the Youth Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp was created in pastels by Ivy Liu, age 14, Burnaby, British Columbia. The image is that of a Black Bear (Ursus americanus) and a Kermode Bear (Ursus americanus kermodei), also known as the "Spirit Bear."

Here is what Ivy says about her picture entitled The Beauty of Nature:

The moment I heard about the get to know program, I was more than excited. At first I had many ideas in mind, but after some research, the spirit bear and the black bear really stood out to me. The inspiration really came from an interesting fact about these bears. It really got me interested when I learned that the spirit bear is actually a black bear that has white fur due to a rare genetic trait. This is when I decided to paint the spirit bear and the black bear to show not only diversity among species but also diversity within species. When I was creating this piece of art, I imagined an environment that was harmless to the bears, a place where these animals can live in harmony; this is why bright yellow was added, to show warmth and protection. Other than painting I also enjoy traveling with my family, as well as exploring nature. In the future I hope to help conserve wildlife habitat even more.
Ivy Liu

A subspecies of the North American Black Bear, the Kermode Bear is not an albino. The colour variant is due to a unique recessive trait in its genes. The greatest concentration of Kermode Bears is on the central and north coast of British Columbia. This bear population feeds on salmon during the spawning season and their range includes the temperate rainforest which provides habitat for thousands of other species of plants, birds and animals.

If we look further at the salmon which these bears feed on, we can enter into a much larger world of biodiversity that has an impact on the lives of these bears. Salmon spend part of their life cycle in the ocean and part in fresh water streams, migrating between the two. This links the Kermode Bear population to the health of other ecosystems and the biodiversity of the species within those ecosystems hundreds and even thousands of miles away. In short, it demonstrates that everything in nature is somehow connected. We only have to look for the connections.

Equally important, we need to consider that we are part of nature and our very well-being is dependent on having a healthy environment. In order to stay alive, we need to drink fresh water daily. The salmon, the bears, and indeed all wildlife, need clean fresh water. Many people eat salmon and other saltwater fish from the ocean so we have to keep the ocean ecosystems with their various fish populations, healthy and sustainable.

If we look after wildlife and the various habitats that they rely upon, then we are also looking after ourselves. In order to understand the natural world and its importance to humankind, we need to establish direct out-of-doors connections with it.

Len Ugarenko
President
Wildlife Habitat Canada