隱世大堡礁｜法國世界自然遺產：新喀里多尼亞堡礁 重寫日期｜2026/1/25

喜歡旅遊但不懂潛水的人可能認為澳洲的大堡礁係地球上唯一一個面積巨大的珊瑚礁，不過距離澳洲東北不遠處的新喀里多尼亞卻有一個並不經傳卻是世界面積第三的珊瑚礁，甚至乎她所在的地域並不為人所熟悉。或者相反來講，這種「隱世」更能避免過度旅遊，對堡礁作出另一種保護效果。

Seclusion barrier reef｜New Caledonian Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef has appeared in news reports from time to time in recent years, except global warming, overfishing, environmental pollution cause aggravate of coral bleaching; overtourism damage to ecology are also topics in the news. It has attracted the attention of environmentalists around the world,

大堡礁(Great Barrier Reef)近年不時都在新聞報導上現身，除了因為氣候變暖令珊瑚白化加劇之外，過度捕撈、環境污染與及過度旅遊而破壞生態也是新聞之中的議題，她受到世界各地環保人士關注，也吸引了旅遊者去澳洲旅遊其中一個探索地方，自1981年登錄世界自然遺產後似乎未曾得到適切的保護，而聯合國教科文組織在2015、21和22年間建議列為頻危世界遺產，惟每次都被澳洲得以成功阻止，可是堡礁損壞仍然未有停止，2024年再次出現大規模白化情況。 世界共有3個大型的堡礁列入世界遺產名錄中，其中兩個便在西南太平洋的大洋洲，就是澳洲大堡礁與及新喀里多尼亞堡礁(Lagons de Nouvelle-Calédonie)；最後一個則是分別在墨西哥、百利茲與危地馬拉加勒比海海域的中美洲大堡礁系統(Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, MBRS)，這個在1996年登錄世界自然遺產的堡礁曾在2009至18年間被評為頻危遺產。 我今次僅介紹新喀里多尼亞堡礁，她佔據整個新喀里多尼亞中北部的狹長海域，從主島格蘭德特(Grande Terre)東北開始向北延伸至貝萊普群島(archipel des Bélep)；另外亦包含主島東南面的松樹島(Île des Pins)及其海域、主島東面40千米處的烏韋亞及博坦波－博普雷島(Ouvéa et Beautemps-Beaupré)和遠離主島北面223千米的昂特勒卡斯托珊瑚礁(Récifs d’Entrecasteaux)，係3個堡礁中連綿最長，但是規模僅次於大堡礁。比起大堡礁她的關注度似乎和這個法國在太平洋的領地一樣同樣低，以致2008年才列入世界自然遺產。離題講一下新喀里多尼亞曾在1987、08、20和21年舉行過4次獨立公投，惟最後結果仍然選擇留在法國作為海外集體，不過隨2024年選舉改革引發的動亂，使得新喀里多尼亞在2025年升格成為類似獨立國家的地位，惟她仍然附屬於法國之內。 2008年7月7日登錄世界自然遺產的新喀里多尼亞堡礁很快被郵政局計劃發行郵票了，還要趕及同年的12月發行，半不規則型狀小型張介紹了組成堡礁的6個地點，從北到南是遠離主島的昂特勒卡斯托珊瑚礁、東北海岸區(Zone côtière Nord-Est)、位處主島的北瀉湖區(Grand Lagon Nord)、西海岸區(Zone côtière Ouest)及南瀉湖區(Grand Lagon Sud)；和主島東面的烏韋亞及博坦波－博普雷島，主圖係以該區6種生物為題。 由2009年開始郵政局再次以新喀里多尼亞堡礁為題每年發行一枚郵票，這6枚郵票上的物種雖然與2008年的小型張上的一樣，但背景也就將該區的自然特徵同時繪畫出來，頗為漂亮。然而由於我只對雀鳥郵票有興趣，這6枚的全系列我僅購買了2013年昂特勒卡斯托珊瑚礁的一枚和前一年的紅樹林(La mangrove)郵票。昂特勒卡斯托珊瑚礁遠離新喀里多尼亞主島北面達223千米的一個無人居住深水岩礁，準確的點來說這個珊瑚礁、主島西海岸區與澳洲大堡礁同屬於珊瑚海(Mer de Corail / Coral Sea)區域，為世界上第二大面積的海，達479,1平方千米，周邊除澳洲和新喀里多尼亞外，也觸及巴布亞新畿內亞、所羅門群島和瓦努瓦圖等大洋州國家，這海域上近澳洲一邊分佈多個現由諾福克群島管轄的無人居住群島。昂特勒卡斯托珊瑚礁係昂特勒卡斯托上將(amiral Antoine Bruni d’Entrecasteaux)在1792年發現並在隨後以他名字命名，雖然未有人居住，但岸邊卻長滿紅樹林及處於候鳥遷徙路徑故滿佈雀糞， 正常來說應該貼4枚昂特勒卡斯托珊瑚礁再加他們的小票幅常用郵票會較好看，但既然貼紅樹林郵票能切合主題當然改為貼這個。 It would be prefect to affix 4 Entrecasteaux Reefs stamps plus their small sized definitive stamp on the envelope normally, but since the mangrove stamps is match theme, of course it should be changed to this one. 然而近年主島的紅樹林卻因人類活動遭受破壞，大量沉積物將珊瑚礁淹沒。 新喀里多尼亞堡礁近期成為新興的旅遊地點，因其著名度不高和較少直航班機，僅吸引到自法國和附近國家來的遊客。在這裡的動物如儒艮(Dugong dugon)和綠海龜(Chelonia mydas)屬於瀕危物種，但幸運地座頭鯨(Megaptera novaeangliae)與及上面實寄封上兩枚郵票所繪畫的雀鳥藍臉鰹鳥(Sula dactylatra)和太平洋岩鷺(E. s. albolineata)都是無危物種。

and also tourtists to Australia to explore one of the attractive places in this country. Since it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, it seems that it has not been properly protected. UNESCO recommended that it be listed as a List of World Heritage in Danger in 2015, 21 and 22, but it was successfully stopped by Australia every time. However, the damage to the barrier reef has not stopped, and large-scale bleaching will occur again in 2024.

There are three large barrier reefs in the world that are included in the World Heritage Site list, two of which are located in Oceania in the southwest Pacific Ocean, namely the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the New Caledonian Barrier Reef; the last one is the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) in the Caribbean Seas of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala respectively, this barrier reef was registered as World Natural Heritage Site in 1996 but listed as a List of World Heritage in Danger from 2009 to 2018.

This time I will only introduce New Caledonian Barrier Reef, which occupies the entire long and narrow waters of north-central New Caledonia, extending north from the northeast of the main island (Grande Terre) to Belep (archipel des Bélep). It also includes Isle of Pines (Île des Pins) and Ouvéa and Beautemps-Beaupré atolls (Ouvéa et Beautemps-Beaupré) which are in the 40 kilometres southeast of the main island, and 223 kilometers north of the main island Entrecasteaux Reefs (Récifs d’Entrecasteaux). New Caledonian Barrier Reef is the longest of 3 heritage site barrier reefs, but it is second only to the Great Barrier Reef. Compared with the Great Barrier Reef, her attention seems to be as low as that of the French territory in the Pacific, so much so that it was only listed as a World Natural Heritage in 2008. Off-topic, New Caledonia held four independence referendums in 1987, 2008, 20 and 21, but in the end it still chose to stay in France as an overseas collective. However, the turmoil caused by the election reform in 2024 made New Caledonia upgrade to an independent country in 2025. but she is still attached to France.

The New Caledonian Barrier Reef registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008, was soon planned to issue stamps in time for December of the same year. The semi-irregular souviner sheet introduced six sites that make up the barrier reef. From north to south they are Entrecasteaux Reefs and North East Coast (Zone côtière Nord-Est) which are far from the main island; North Lagoon District (Grand Lagon Nord), West Coast District (Zone côtière Ouest) and South Lagoon District(Grand Lagon Sud) located on the main island, also Ouvéa and Beautemps-Beaupré atolls to the east of the main island, the main picture of stamps are 6 species in the area.

Since 2009, the post office of New Caledonia has issued a stamp every year with New Caledonian Barrier Reef, although the species on these 6 stamps are the same as those on the 2008 souviner sheet, all of their background also depicts the attractive natural characteristics of the area meanwhile. Since I am only interested in bird stamps, I only bought one of these 6 full series of Entrecasteaux Reefs issued in 2013 and the Mangroves stamp of the previous year. Entrecasteaux Reefs is an uninhabited deep-water reef 223 kilometres north of the main island of New Caledonia. To be precise, this coral reef, also includes the west coast of the main island and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia belong to the Coral Sea (Mer de Corail) area, total area is 479,1 km² to be second largest sea in the world. Except Australia and New Caledonia, the surrounding area of the sea also touches Oceania countries such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuvatu, and there are many uninhabited islands now under the jurisdiction of the Norfolk Islands. The Entrecasteaux Reefs was discovered by amiral Antoine Bruni d’Entrecasteaux in 1792 and was later named with his name. Although it is uninhabited, the shore was covered with mangroves and birdshits as it was on the migration path of migratory birds. In recent years, the mangroves on the main island have been destroyed by human activities, and sediments have flooded the coral reefs.

New Caledonian Barrier Reef has recently become an emerging tourist destination, attracting only tourists from France and nearby countries because of its low popularity and few direct flights. The animals here like Dugong and Green turtle are endangered species, Fortunately the humpback whale, 2 stamps on the above envelope shown Austropacific Masked Booby and Eastern Reef Heron are least-concern species.

國寶聚香江｜卡古鳥與大熊貓

不知道從何時開始，中國的大熊貓成為了香港的代表，到香港參與郵票展覽的外地郵政機關都會印行大熊貓小型張作紀念。或者是香港沒有自己的珍稀動物，就隨便挑一隻；又或者是缺乏香港和中國的關係認知，而以郵票圖稿示好？

早在1994年在香港舉辦的國際郵展，到來擺檔的郵政局和郵商已佔滿香港會議展覽中心灣仔舊翼五和七樓， 第一次的國際郵票展覽就有此成績。這次不少參展國都發行特別郵票紀念，有比較特別的是南太平洋地區法屬新喀里多尼亞的一款小全張以新喀里多尼亞特有種雀鳥卡古鳥和主要生長在中國四川的大熊貓為圖；隨後的1997，2004和2009年郵展也有大熊貓郵票出現，例如剛過去的2009年郵展就有又是兩個來自南太平洋島嶼瓦努亞圖和皮特開恩島以聯合發行的形式印刷熊貓郵票和異形小型張，離題一說各地聯合發行郵票都會是聯合發行國所有事物，今次的熊貓小型張卻與兩國沒有關係，純粹是郵展上合租一攤檔而已。 既然如此，除開了無法推敲的政治計算，我們不妨研究一下郵票上的生物：卡古鳥正式中文名稱是鷺鶴(Kagu)，在當地的法語稱作「Kagou huppé」或簡單地稱呼「Cagou」，係法屬新喀里多尼亞特有種鷺鶴科雀鳥，此科僅有鷺鶴一種物種。因其並不太會飛的關係生活範圍受到嚴重局限，而令到祇有新喀里多尼亞的森林間才有牠們的蹤影，但也是因為牠們不慬飛的關係，隨殖民者帶夾外來物種如家鼠和家貓野生化帶來嚴重威脅，也有一定的人類捕殺影響。至二次大戰後才開始保育鷺鶴，惟數目仍在下降至今評為瀕危狀況。 在近年鷺鶴已成為新喀里多尼亞代表出現在各方面領域，除郵票外還有錢幣、襟章， 新的《大熊貓》郵票又是刻意安排在7月1日公眾假期發行，不過除郵政總局外各郵政局場面冷清。 自早期牠就出現在新喀里多尼亞通用郵票至今超過一世紀，也經常出現在特別郵票和郵政文具上。 大熊貓(Giant Panda)好可能最能夠代表中國的一種物種，其黑白顏色形象鮮明。牠們祇出現在四川盆地及陝西秦嶺地區，是該區域的特有種哺乳類動物，也是因為其有限地域的活動範圍故受到人為生態破壞嚴重威脅，幸從上世紀六十年代開始保育，至今是近危狀態。 中國在1998年才贈送一對大熊貓給香港，故新喀里多尼亞1994年的香港郵展小型張上的大熊貓實與香港無關，不過其可愛樣貌足以抵銷一切。中國再次於2007年贈送大熊貓給香港作為中國佔據香港十週年的禮物，在1999和2008年香港都有發行《大熊貓》郵票作為紀念， 從新喀里多尼亞寄回原圖片的信封，我把餘下的兩枚郵票貼上去了，其實郵資並不足夠但也以掛號寄出。 兩次的原地郵政局分別是黃竹坑和香港仔，因都是星期日或公眾假期我都有特意探訪。 除通用郵票外，新喀里多尼亞也不時發行鷺鶴特別郵票、明信片和信封，2007年的《國際鳥盟》(BirdLife International)系列郵票就是三種包括鷺鶴的新喀里多尼亞特有種雀鳥，其餘兩種分別是紅臉裸吸蜜鳥(Crow Honeyeater)和山鵑鵙(Caledonian Greybird)。在2009年香港郵展時再度遇上新喀里多尼亞集郵處擺攤，有售賣這套郵票和 2001年印行的郵資明信片，就即時請他們幫手製作原圖片，完成品頗為漂亮。 鷺鶴原圖片。 大熊貓原圖片。