New 7 Wonders of Nature revealed!

Halong Bay, Vietnam. Photo: PA

Seven stunning sites across the globe have been named the 'provisional' New 7 Wonders of Nature.

The beauty spots were picked from 440 locations from over 220 countries, which were narrowed down to just 28 finalists, and are: the Amazon; Halong Bay, Vietnam; Iguaza Falls, Argentina and Brazil; Jeju Island, South Korea; Komodo, Indonesia; Puerto Princesa Underground River, Phillippines; and Table Mountain, South Africa.

The results will be checked and validated and, when that process is complete, the New 7 Wonders will then confirm the winners in early 2012 and organise official inauguration events.

Table Mountain, South Africa. Photo: PA

A panel of experts have spent the last four years on the campaign, and the winners were picked by these criteria: unique beauty of the nominated site; diversity and distribution (accounted for in seven groups); ecological significance (in terms of either stand-alone eco-systems and/or their significance for human beings); historical legacy (relation that human beings and/or indigenous populations have or have had with the site); geo-location (even distribution of the 28 Official Finalists between all continents).

According to Travel Mole, announcing the results at the headquarters of the New 7 Wonders Foundation in Zurich, founder president Bernard Weber said: 'I would like to thank the many champions, citizens, voluntary organisations, public bodies and governments that have helped promote the New7Wonders of Nature campaign over the past four years.

'Once confirmed, the natural wonders will join the man-made New 7 Wonders of the World in becoming part of Global Memory for humankind for ever.'

Visit new7wonders.com for more information


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