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Students vote on new natural wonder

Part of global initiative to raise awareness of diversity of natural environments.
Students vote on new natural wonder
A komodo dragon sleeping
Published: October 25, 2011 05:01 AM GMT
Updated: October 25, 2011 05:11 AM GMT

Hundreds of lecturers, staff and students at the Catholic University of Widya Mandira in Kupang, capital of East Nusa Tenggara province, have supported an SMS voting campaign aimed at promoting Komodo Island as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. The campaign is part of a global initiative by New7Wonders to raise awareness of the diversity of the world’s natural environments. The founder of New7Wonders movement, Bernard Weber, has said on his website that the recent campaign “is meant to raise the appreciation of our natural heritage to the same level as our man-made inheritance.” The New 7 Wonders of Nature follows an earlier campaign launched in Lisbon in 2007 to nominate seven new wonders of the world. Indonesia’s Komodo National Park is among 28 finalists. Divine Word Father Yulius Yasinto, rector of the Catholic University of Widya Mandira, organized the local campaign. “The development of tourism will improve in a certain region if it is supported by the region’s people,” the rector said, adding that it was important for local residents to take pride in the beauty of their natural environment. The university has about 5,100 lecturers, staffs and students. “If all of them join the campaign, it will raise the rank of Komodo Island in the contest,” he said.

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