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Nascent Drama

"This is a fascinating site where you can literally see a slice of history," said Tim Badman, World Heritage advisor of IUCN's Protected Areas Program.
 
Surtsey, a new island formed by volcanic eruptions off the southern coast of Iceland from 1963 to 1967, is interesting for the new life forms that have settled there. The young bit of land has provided a unique scientific record of the ways in which plants and animals colonize land.
 
The Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve protects eight areas of wintering habitat of the monarch butterfly in the oyamel fir forests of central Mexico. After traveling thousands of kilometers, as many as a billion monarchs overwinter there.
 
More than 200,000 hectares of Central Asian steppe, a vast region of open grassland, is found in Saryarka, Kazakhstan - more than half of it is pristine.
 
The area's Korgalzhyn-Tengiz lakes provide feeding grounds to around 16 million birds and support hundreds of thousands of nesting waterfowl.
 
"The wetlands of Korgalzhyn and Naurzum State Nature Reserves are key stopover points for migratory birds," Sheppard said.
 
"Some of these species are globally threatened.
 
Saryarka offers them a safe haven on their journeys from Africa, Europe and South Asia to their breeding grounds in Western and Eastern Siberia."
 
Saryarka is also home to the critically endangered saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica).
 
Mount Sanqingshan National Park in China was selected for its "outstanding natural beauty," the IUCN said.
 
The park features a diverse forest and unusual granite rock formations, including shaped pillars and peaks, which can be viewed from suspended walking trails.
 
The Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, on the other hand, was picked for its geological value; it features a dramatic display of mountain-building, including an area called the Glarus Overthrust, where older rock overlays younger rock.
 
The highly diverse coral reef ecosystems of the Lagoons of New Caledonia put it on the new list - they equal or possibly surpass the larger Great Barrier Reef in coral and fish diversity.
 
These eight natural sites were accompanied by 27 cultural sites as inductees into the World Heritage program.
 
The IUCN also helps monitor conservation at the natural sites.
 
It has deemed several World Heritage sites as under threat, including the Galápagos Islands, in Ecuador, Machu Picchu, in Peru, and Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
 
Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Continents
 
Images: The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World
 
Original Story: Eight New Natural Wonders Named
 
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