ARGENTINA: Magnificent waterfalls among winners of the seven new natural wonders of the world

Record ID: 446699

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Magnificent waterfalls among winners of the seven new natural wonders of the world
  • Date: 12th November 2011
  • Summary: MISIONES, ARGENTINA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE WATERFALLS
  • Embargoed: 27th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVACSDQFOS32T02K6MPVKYPD6XXU
  • Story Text: The awe-inspiring Iguazu Falls, which straddle Argentina and Brazil, were chosen as one of the new Natural Seven Wonders of Nature on Friday (November 11), following a global contest.
    Maurice Fabian Closs is the governor of Misiones, the northern Argentine province where the waterfalls are located, and he said such a win would further their work to improve the attraction.
    "What we should do is add to this natural marvel, via the management, the quality, the welcome, the structure and the promotion. A win of this magnitude deserves it," said Closs.
    The competition began in 2007 and was open to public voting. Voting closed at 11:11am, and 11 seconds on the palindromic date of 11.11.11.
    Organisers, a Swiss foundation, released the preliminary list of winners during the afternoon, as vote-counting continued. They said some movement in the final line-up could not be ruled out ahead of the final announcement in early 2012.
    Closs thanked Argentina national football player Lionel Messi, a worldwide star who plays for Barcelona FC, for his help in drawing attention to the Iguazu and calling for fans to vote.
    "Lionel Messi's gesture was enormous and provoked a worldwide impact. We saw it in the world press. The world press was talking about Messi asking for votes," said Closs.
    There were over 450 bids to be listed in the final seven. These were whittled down to 28 final candidates.
    Also making it on to the illustrious list were the Amazon rainforest, Halong Bay in Vietnam, Komodo island in Indonesia, South Africa's Table Mountain, Puerto Princesa underground river in the Philippines, and Jeju island in South Korea.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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