Website of the Week: New7Wonders of Nature

This week's website, courtesy of a tip from CricketB, is New7Wonders, where you can vote for the seven new (and natural) wonders of the world. People have nominated 261 natural sites, natural monuments, or landscapes across the globe for the honor of making it to the top seven. The goal of the New7Wonders Campaign is to raise awareness of the incredible beauty and natural diversity found in our world today.

This campaign follows up on the highly popular 7/7/07 launch of the Official New 7 Wonders of the World. The new wonders campaign, also sponsored by the New7Wonders Foundation, netted over 100 million votes from across the globe. The new seven Wonders of the World, as chosen by popular vote, include such man-made feats as The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal. (Interesting sidenote: The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only remaining site from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.)

Great Pyramid of GizaPhoto courtesy of Wikipedia
So, what kind of wonders might represent the best of the natural world? How about the Grand Canyon in the United States, the Great Barrier Reef near Australia, and the Kalahari Desert in Africa?

Grand Canyon National ParkPhoto credit: Mark Lellouch, National Park Service
Unfortunately, it appears as though the larger the natural feature -- and the more countries involved -- the harder it is for the natural wonder to get sponsored by an OSC, or Official Supporting Committee, from each country. This seems like a potential flaw in the design of the contest. I can't imagine a list of the seven greats not including the Great Barrier Reef, for example!

So, cast your vote and make your choices known! And if you represent a local, regional, or national government group with responsibility for one of the candidate natural areas, consider becoming an OSC!