T148, Plant Trees and Make Our Country Green《绿化祖国》

Stamp Title: Plant Trees and Make Our Country Green
Serial number: T148
Values in set: 4
(4-1), Planting Tree is Everybody’s Duty, 8 fen, 40*27 mm
(4-2), Make Cities Green and Beautiful, 10 fen, 40*27 mm
(4-3), Building the Green Wall, 20 fen, 40*27 mm
(4-4), A Dense Forest and a Bumper Grain Harvest, 30 fen, 40*27 mm
Date of issue: March 12, 1990
Denomination: 68 fen
Designers: Sun Jingzhong
Size of stamps: 40*27mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 50 (10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Today, the earth’s deserts are spreading and getting larger and desertification is a serious problem facing the world. The major reason for this is irresponsible cutting down of trees. As is shown in the first cartoon, when people cut down trees desert forces on and becomes irrepressible.
People cut down trees for various reasons but they may forget that trees play a vital part in water and soil conservation. Trees can preserve moisture and fertility in the soil, protect soil against erosion and prevent fertile land from becoming desert. Therefore when people cut down all of the trees, the earth lies bare and dry in the hot sun, and desert is inevitable.
Desertification can lead to many other serious problems which may threaten the existence of human beings, such as a reduction of arable land, terrible droughts and famine. In order to prevent desertification, people have to plant trees, as the second cartoon shows. The time when people plant trees is the time when desert retreats. People should not cut down trees any more, as is done in the first cartoon, but rather, they should plant more trees, and only in this way can desertification be finally defeated.

T148 绿化祖国
（1） 8分 全民义务植树 2190.65万枚
（2）10分 城市绿化美化 2281.65万枚
（3）20分 建设绿色长城 2158.15万枚
（4）30分 林茂粮丰 2052.65万枚
发行日期：1990.3.12。影写版。P11。40mm×27mm。50（5×10）。孙敬忠。印刷：北京邮票厂。

1979年2月23日，第五届全国人大常委会第六次会议上，决定每年3月12日为全国的植树节。并把“植树造林，绿化祖国”作为我国的一项基本国策。1981年，在邓小平同志倡导下，五届全国人大四次会议作出了《关于开展全民义务植树运动的决议》。决议规定，年满11岁的中华人民共和国公民，除老弱病残外，因地制宜，每人每年义务植树3至5棵，或者完成相应劳动量的育苗、管护和其他绿化任务。