Pres. Benigno C. Aquino III led inauguration of Puerto Princesa Underground River as one of new 7 wonders of nature

President Aquino inaugurated last night (April 21, 2012) the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature and hailed it as a collective success for the Filipinos. The president together with DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo and Perto Princesa Mayor Edward Hegedorn thanked everyone for the achievement, during the inauguration in Pasay City.

“The Puerto Princesa Underground River is the pride of Palawan, and now, it is the pride of the world, because it has officially been named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature,” he said. Click for more.

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The 7 New Wonders of Nature final selection as published by Wikipedia are:

Declared winners:

1. Jeju Island, South Korea
2. Iguazu Falls (National Park), Argentina, Brazil
3. Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR), Philippines

Provisional winners:

1. Amazon Rainforest and River, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, France (French Guiana), Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela
2. Halong Bay, Vietnam
3. Komodo Island (National Park), Indonesia
4. Table Mountain (National Park), South Africa

To read complete details, click New 7 Wonders of Nature (Wikipedia)

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The provisional 7 New Wonders of Nature as announced

Based on the first count of votes on the 11^th day of November, 2011, 7 entries emerged as New 7 Wonders of Nature: Table Mountain, Puerto Princesa Underground River, Komodo. Jeju Island, Iguazu Falls, Halong Bay and Amazon.

Table Mountain is the most popular site in Cape Town, South Africa. It is a floral kingdom with over 1,470 floral species;

Puerto Princesa Underground River of Palawan, Philippines is an 8.2-kilometer navigable river framed in a magnificent mountain landscape. Monkeys, large monitor lizards and squirrels adorned the beach by the cave.

Komodo or Indonesia’s Komodo National Park encompasses 3 larger islands Komodo, Rinca and Padar and smaller ones to protect the Komodo Dragon, other species and marine life;

Jeju Island is South Korea’s largest volcanic island and smallest province that features Mt. Hallasan- a dormant volcano with 360 satellite volcanoes- the tallest in South Korea;

Iguazu Falls are one of the world’s largest waterfalls. Collectively, 275 falls that traverse Argentina and Brazil make up Iguazu Falls which is home to hundred species of flora and fauna;

Viet Nam’s Halong Bay is a 120-kilometer long coastline with 1,969 islets with lakes, caves, floating villages of fisherfolks who make their living out of 200 species of fish and 450 species of mollusks;

The Amazon Rainforest, also known as Amazonia, the Amazon Jungle or the Amazon Basin consists of 7 million square kilometers that snaked through 9 nations: namely, Bolivia- Brazil- Colombia-Ecuador- French Guiana- Guyana- Peru- Suriname-Venezuela. It represents more than half of the earth’s remaining rainforests that host hundreds species of flora and fauna.

The foregoing entries are listed not in any position or ranking. They were announced by Bernard Weber, Founder-President of New 7 Wonders as provisional 7 New Wonders of Nature at the New 7 Wonders headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Weber said that there is the possibility of changes between this provisional list and the confirmed winners. Checking, validation and verification of the votes are concurrently ongoing and the confirmed winners will be known by the public early in 2012 during the Official Inauguration rites, said Weber.

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