ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: The Pakistan Post has issued two commemorative postage stamps of four rupees denomination to mark the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), being held in Johannesburg (South Africa).

These stamps are available for sale at all the important post offices and philatelic counters including the National Philatelic Bureau in Islamabad.

The WSSD that commenced on Monday will end on September 6. Over 65,000 high-level delegates, including the heads of states and governments as well as a large number of representatives of inter-governmental, non-governmental and private sector organizations are attending the summit.

The summit will review the progress made since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCD), which was held in 1992.

The summit also seeks to reach agreement on concrete steps to implement sustainable development and to determine long-term development strategies. The Pakistani delegation is headed by the Minister for Environmental, Local Government and Rural Development, Barrister Shahida Jamil, and is accompanied by other high-ranking officials Pakistan is looking forward for the creation of an enabling environment for the developing countries to promote investment and growth in order to eradicate poverty and to attain sustainable development.

The stamps are based on two logos especially developed for creating awareness among masses about environmental hazards, reports news agency APP.

One of the stamps depicts a character “Aabi”, a drop of water, with the K2 in background and carries a message to preserve the country’s watersheds.

The other stamp is about preserving endangered species in the country like blind Indus dolphin, snow leopard, green turtle and Markhor. It carries photographs of children holding Pakistan’s flag with pictures of these animals in the background.