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LEGAZPI
CITY—Philippine entries to the global search for the
“New Seven Wonders of Nature” that include the Mayon
Volcano here continued to improve their chances to get
into the finals, which would be known early next year.
Mayon
Volcano as of Monday morning’s posting was on the 82nd
place of the 275 candidates nominated into the search
organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and the nonprofit New
Seven Wonders Foundation based at the Heidi Weber Museum
in Zurich, Switzerland.
It was
at the 96th place last week when City Mayor Noel Rosal
here called on all Filipinos across the world and on
other nationals who love Mount Mayon to participate in
the search and vote for the World’s Most Perfect Cone
and the two other Philippine entries—the Tubbataha Reef
on the Sulu Sea and Chocolate Hills in Bohol.
Rosal’s
call was intended to boost Mayon’s chance to officially
get into the New Seven Wonders that would make it among
the major tourist attractions in the world.
Voting
for the New Seven Wonders will last until the end of
this year on December 31 and is done through electronic
mail (e-mail) using the mechanics posted on
www.new7wonders.com, the search’s official web site.
The
search considers Mayon as the country’s most active
volcano located 15 kilometers northwest of this city and
classified by volcanologists as a strato-volcano
(composite volcano) whose symmetric cone was formed
through alternate pyroclastic and lava flows.
It has
erupted about 50 times in the past 400 years and is part
of what is called the “Pacific Rim of Fire.”
Tubbataha is an atoll coral reef that is a marine
sanctuary protected by the Philippine government as a
national marine park. It serves as home to over a
thousand species, including many that are endangered,
like manta rays, lionfish, tortoises, clownfish and
sharks.
As of
Monday morning posting, Tubbataha Reef was on the 25th
place, a big lift from the 29th place last week
Chocolate Hills, that is an unusual geological formation
composed of around 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills,
all about the same size, spread over an area of more
than 50 square kilometers, on the other hand, showed an
amazing performance in the global polling over the
weekend by jumping from the 31st last week to the 22nd
place as of the posting.
There
are 275 nominees to the search worldwide. Of these, 21
will be shortlisted by a panel of expert based on votes
obtained. Results would be announced in January 2009.
These
shortlisted entries will be submitted to another phase
of polling that would decide on the official New Seven
Wonders of Nature to be formally announced on 2010.
As of
Monday morning, the seven top voted entries—Hang Long
Bay, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Fansipan
Mountain in Vietnam, Cox’s Bazaar Beach and Sundarbans
Forest in Bangladesh, Ganges River which borders India
and Bangladesh, and Mount Everest in the Nepal-China
border remained unmoved from their positions.
The
search calls on all citizens of the world to support it
and its organizers said, “through film, television, the
Internet and books, people shall be sensitized to the
beauty of the world’s heritage, both man-made and
natural, and be alerted of its destruction and decay.”
The New
Seven Wonders Foundation also undertook the search for
the “New Seven Wonders of the World,” which ended last
year. That search featured man-made structures across
the world. The seven candidates elected by more than 100
million votes to represent global heritage throughout
history were Chichenitza in Mexico; Christ Redeemer,
Brazil; Colosseum, Italy; Taj Mahal, India; Great Wall
of China; Petra in Jordan; and Macha Picchu in Peru.
The
listing in random order, as announced at the Declaration
Ceremony on July 7, 2007, was equal and presented as a
group without any ranking. |
