Natural wonder Milford Sound in global search
08 Jan 2009
Spectacular Milford Sound, on New Zealand’s southern West Coast, will compete against some of the world's great scenic marvels in a global search for the ‘Seven Wonders of Nature’.
The 261 nominees from 222 countries include mountain peaks, lakes, and other attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef, Niagara Falls, the Blue and White Nile rivers.
New Zealand's other contenders - Franz Josef Glacier and the Ross Ice Shelf (part of the Ross Dependency in Antarctica) - were eliminated in an earlier voting round.
Iconic New Zealand destination
A vast conservation area and tourist destination, Milford Sound topped the popular votes for New Zealand.
Rudyard Kipling described Milford Sound as the "eighth wonder of the world". More recently, it was named number one Destination in the World by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel community, and more than 500,000 tourists visit the iconic New Zealand destination each year.
Located within Fiordland National Park, in the South Island, the 'sound' is actually a fjord running 15km inland from the Tasman Sea, and surrounded by sheer rock faces rising to 1200m or more on either side.
Among its most striking features are Mitre Peak, rising 1,692m above the sound, the Elephant at 1,517m and resembling an elephant’s head, and Lion Mountain, 1,302m, in the shape of a crouching lion. Lush rain forests cling precariously to these cliffs, and the deep waters are populated by seals, penguins and dolphins.
Online voting
An eligible ‘wonder’ must be a clearly defined natural site or natural monument that was not created or significantly altered by humans for aesthetic reasons.
The selection process for the seven natural wonders includes a combination of public voting and expert selection. The final outcome will not be known until 2011.
Millions of people are expected to cast online votes to select 77 semifinalists for the top natural wonders. Internet voting for this round closes on 7 July 2009. Registration on the website is designed to prevent multiple voting.
A panel of international nature experts - chaired by former UNESCO chief Federico Mayor - will then choose the 21 finalists. Another round of public voting by internet, telephone and text messaging will determine the final seven natural wonders.
"We are calling on people all over the world to actively show their appreciation for our ... natural world by joining together to celebrate the most extraordinary sites on our planet," said Tia Viering of the New Seven Wonders campaign.
The Swiss non-profit foundation has collected 441 nominations by internet since the selection process began in 2007.
Seven man-made wonders
The competition follows a search to find seven man-made wonders that were announced in 2007. About 100 million people voted in this selection.
Led by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, the campaign aimed to recognise and promote preservation of international treasures.
The winners were: the Colosseum, Italy; the Great Wall of China; the Taj Mahal, India; Petra, Jordan; Christ the Redeemer statue, Brazil; Machu Picchu, Peru; and Chichen Itza, Mexico.
NZ World Heritage Sites
UNESCO is continually updating its list of World Heritage Sites which now includes 878 places.
New Zealand is home to three World Heritage Sites - Te Wahipounamu (West Coast, South Island), Tongariro National Park (central North Island), and the
New Zealand sub-Antarctic Islands.
A bid is currently underway to have a section of the southern skies above Aorangi Mt Cook declared a World Heritage Site. This would become the first starlight heritage site in the world.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) has also developed a tentative list of future World Heritage sites for New Zealand. The tentative list includes:
- Kahurangi National Park / Farewell Spit / Waikoropupu Springs / the Canaan Karst System
- seabed and waters of Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) - an addition to Te Wāhipounamu
- Napier Art Deco historic precinct
- Kerikeri Basin historic precinct
- Waitangi Treaty Grounds historic precinct
- Kermadec Islands and marine reserve
- Auckland volcanic field
- Whakarua Moutere - or the North-East Islands (including Poor Knights Islands).
More information:
Fiordland
Travels in Fiordland
World Heritage Sites
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