"UNESCO declared 2011 to be the “International Year of Forests” and the subject of the EUROPA stamp, “Forests”, is in accord with this. Forests are one of the sources of life on earth, an ecological community and habitat subject to natural factors and human intervention. They include microorganisms living in the soil, moths, fungi, herbaceous and woody plants living on the surface of the soil, as well as the insects, birds and wild animals living in them. The forest is more than just a collection of trees. The forest is the greatest consumer of carbondioxide and the greatest producer of oxygen, it is the source of wood as a material, a renewable source of energy and the source of many other products, it regulates the earth’s water balance and influences the climate, it is almost the only habitat where the food chain is maintained without interruption, and it is the most important protector of the environment. In addition to this, its health promoting, regenerating effect is outstanding and welfare, cultural and aesthetic impact is indispensable. Almost a fifth of Hungary’s territory is covered by woods and their maintenance requires expert forest management. The most important aims are to protect the forest in order to preserve its biological diversity and its ability to produce and regenerate, to help it meet environmental and economic expectations in harmony with social demand, and to make it serve health, social, educational and research goals. (Source: erdo.hu) The EUROPA 2011: Forests miniature sheet contains two stamp designs. One shows a hazy end-of-summer forest detail with a colourful meadow in blossom from the őrség area and the other the foggy mountain range of the Visegrád mountains in the winter. The border is decorated by the foliage of a tree and the background printing employs the veins of a leaf. The first day cover depicts a spring forest detail from Pécs with some ramsons in flower. Silhouettes of trees illustrate the graphics of the special postmark."