Expo a venue for 7 Wonders campaign

The Bangladesh Pavilion is decorated like the Sundarbans. (Source:expo2010.cn)

Bangladesh is encouraging visitors to vote for the Sundarbans, its finalist competing to discover the "New 7 Wonders of Nature" by launching its campaign at the Expo site yesterday, following the Maldives Pavilion and the Israel Pavilion.

The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world, spreading across parts of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India. It is estimated that there are now 500 Bengal tigers and about 30,000 spotted deer in the area.

Bernard Weber, the founder and president of New7Wonders Foundation, is promoting the voting campaign for about 10 countries at the Expo site. He hoped to raise visitors' awareness on protecting nature.

The global online campaign is in its final phase as 28 finalists have been selected. The finalists include the Dead Sea, the Maldives, the Amazon River, Angel Falls, the Galapagos Islands, the Grand Canyon and Halong Bay.

The competition was launched in 2007 by Bernard Weber. The winners will be revealed on November 11, 2011. An estimated 1 billion votes are expected.