Eight new official wonders of the natural world - July 09, 2008
Eight natural sites have been added to the UN’s World Heritage List, including a butterfly reserve in Mexico, a “pristine natural laboratory” off Iceland, fossil-filled cliffs in Canada, and the site pictured here: the Saryarka steppe and lakes of Northern Kazakhstan.
“These eight stunning natural sites are amongst the best of what nature has to offer,” says David Sheppard, of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which does technical evaluations for the UN (press release).
There are now 878 sites on the list, 679 are cultural, 174 natural and 25 both.
More details and more photos below the fold.
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
North of Mexico City the trees turn orange in the autumn. Not just for the normal reason but because millions upon millions of butterflies from North America swarm to this site “colouring its trees orange and literally bending their branches under their collective weight”, says UNESCO.
Surtsey
Sail south from Iceland for about 30 km and you’ll find a volcanic island that rose from the sea in the 1960s. This is Surtsey (which UNESCO lists as Sturtsey in places).
“It is all the more outstanding for having been protected since its birth, providing the world with a pristine natural laboratory,” says UNESCO. “Free from human interference, Surtsey has been producing unique long-term information on the colonisation process of new land by plant and animal life.”
Joggins Fossil Cliffs
Found in Nova Scotia, Canada, these cliffs have been described as a ‘coal age Galapagos’, says their listing. That seems to be a minor trend, with fellow new site the Socotra Archipelago being dubbed ‘the Galápagos of the Indian Ocean’.
“The rocks of this site are considered to be iconic for this period of the history of Earth and are the world’s thickest and most comprehensive record of the Pennsylvanian strata (dating back 318 to 303 million years) with the most complete known fossil record of terrestrial life from that time,” says UNESCO.
The other five (pdfs)
Mount Sanqingshan National Park
Lagoons of New Caledonia
Saryarka
Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona
Socotra Archipelago
Image top: © IUCN - Chris Magin.
Image Surtsy: © UNESCO/Sigurdur Á. Thráinsson
