The Sunderbans

The breathtakingly beautiful Sunderbans now has to compete with some other gorgeous contenders: Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Phillipines, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Cox’s Bazar Beach in Bangladesh, Chocolate Hills in Phillipines, Tubbataha Reef in Phillipines, Al-hasa Oasis in Saudi Arabia, the Ganges running through India and Bangladesh, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam and Fansipan Mountain in Vietnam, to name just a few. And, if the Sunderbans turns lucky, it might just emerge as one of the “New Seven Wonders of Nature”. Sunderbans is a multi-national nominee that needs both the countries — India and Bangladesh — to officially support it. A supporting committee for Indian Sunderbans has already been formed.The Sunderbans delta is the largest mangrove forest in the world, spreading across parts of Bangladesh and Bengal. The Indian Sunderbans has 102 deltas, where over 40 lakh people live. It has a complex network of tidal waterways and small islands of mangrove forests. The area is known for its wide range of fauna, with the Royal Bengal tiger being the most famous, and it is rich in birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and snakes. After the New7Wonders of the World campaign, the second campaign organized by the New7Wonders Foundation is now choosing the New 7 Wonders of Nature. According to the website, some 430 nominations from 224 different countries were submitted by some half a million people within the first few months of the campaign. The Sunderbans ranks 10 in the latest ranking of the nominees participating to become a New7Wonder of Nature. “We have to raise awareness so that more and more people vote,” Ganguly said. According to the website, voting for nominees will continue through July 2009. Then the New7Wonders of Nature panel of experts, under the leadership of Prof Federico Mayor, former director-general of UNESCO, will review the top 77 nominees and choose the 21 finalists, to be announced on 21 July, 2009.These finalists will then be put to popular vote, the website adds. Voting will continue throughout 2010 and into 2011, when the final list would be announced.