New7Wonders of Nature Provisional Winners Announced, Puerto Princesa Underground River Included!

New7Wonders of the World (2001-2007) was an initiative started in 2001 by the Swiss corporation New7Wonders Foundation to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. A popularity poll was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organized by the New7Wonders Foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon. The New7Wonders Foundation is regulated by the Swiss Federal Foundation Authority as all nationwide-active foundations in Switzerland are. It was the first in a planned series of lists; in 2007 the foundation launched New7Wonders of Nature, which will be the subject of voting until Nov. 11, 2011. New7Wonders Cities is the next project.

The New7Wonders Foundation claimed that more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. Nothing prevented multiple votes, so the poll was considered "decidedly unscientific". According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Utica, New York-based polling organization Zogby International, New7Wonders Foundation drove "the largest poll on record".

The program drew a wide range of official reaction. Some countries touted their finalist and tried to get more votes cast for it, while others downplayed or criticized the contest. After supporting the New7Wonders Foundation at the beginning of the campaign, by providing advice on nominee selection, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) distanced itself from the undertaking in 2007.

The New7Wonders Foundation, established in 2001, relied on private donations and the sale of broadcast rights and received no public funding or taxpayers' money. After the final announcement, New7Wonders said it didn't earn anything from the exercise and barely recovered its investment.

- Wikipedia

November 11, 2011. On this date, the search for New7Wonders of Nature has finally ended. And among the 28 finalists, Puerto Princesa Underground River was included as provisionary and early next year will be known if it really deserves to belong to quest.

The following is the complete list of provisional New7Wonders of Nature based on the first count of vote results on 11/11/11 in alphabetical order, not in any position or ranking. This is as published on the official website:

• AMAZON
• HALONG BAY
• IGUAZU FALLS
• JEJU ISLAND
• KOMODO
• PUERTO PRINCESA UNDERGROUND RIVER
• TABLE MOUNTAIN

Same site says,

"It is possible that there will be changes between the above provisional winners and the eventual finally confirmed winners.

. . .

"The voting calculation is now being checked, validated and independently verified, and the confirmed winners will be announced starting early 2012 during the Official Inauguration ceremonies."

To be continued...