Isla del Coco, an uninhabited island 365 miles west of Costa Rica’s Pacific port of Puntarenas, has been nominated as a candidate for one of the new natural wonders of the world, the daily La Nación reported.
This puts the national park, known as Costa Rica’s legendary “Treasure Island,” up against some 300 other contenders which were compiled until Dec. 31 at the Web site www.new7wonders.com.
Starting in January 2009, people will be able to vote for the new seven wonders, in a contest whose outcome will finally be decided by mid-2010, according to the nonprofit foundation New7Wonders.
Swiss-Canadian adventurer Bernard Weber started the foundation in 1999 with the aim of promoting “respect and enthusiasm … for the beauty of our planet,” the Associated Press reported.
More than 100 million people participated in the first contest ending in July.
That vote began a multi-step process in which the public was invited to make suggestions for sites, now posted by continent on the Web site.
Previous similar contests have also crowned manmade wonders such as Peru’s Machu Picchu and Brazil’s Statue of Christ Redeemer.
