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Bu Tinah in Final Shortlist of New7Wonders
Bu Tinah Island, located off the western shores of Abu Dhabi, has made it to the final shortlist of 28 natural treasures that are in contention for the ‘Official New7Wonders of Nature’ title.
Actively working on a campaign to generate votes for the final phase are two students of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) as part of their live case studies.
The New7Wonders website (www.new7wonders.com) describes Bu Tinah Island as ‘an undisturbed paradise’ and a ‘distinctive natural habitat’ with shallow waters, sea-grass beds and tall mangroves set amid extensive coral reefs, hosting rare and endangered marine life, including dugongs and hawksbill turtle.
In November 2009, when the students began the project, Bu Tinah was ranked at the bottom of all entries. By December, when they had finished some of their grassroots marketing, the island was heading the entries. Bu Tinah is now ranked No. 12, and the ranking changes on global voting, which is now available on the website.
The New7Wonders Foundation is a nonprofit organisation that has used communication technology to encourage global dialogue, bringing the world together to choose and celebrate those places that we can all share, and which we all appreciate. In 2007, more than 100 million votes were cast to choose the man-made representatives of our global historical heritage.
The current ‘Official New7Wonders of Nature’ campaign is in its third phase where of the 28 official finalists, the world is voting for the top seven. This campaign officially started in 2007 with over 440 participants, from that 77 were shortlisted and then further narrowed down to 28.
The duo in the project are Khalifa Al Murar and Haakon Rist, both postgraduate students who worked under the guidance of Dr. Melodena Balakrishnan, Associate Professor and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Business and Management, UOWD.
“We had never heard that UAE had a ‘natural wonder’ called Bu Tinah, until Prof. Melodena included it in our capstone course curriculum. When we read it, we knew that was our project,” said Khalifa, who is a UAE national. “We wanted to contribute to positive social change, and we enjoy working on the project that could put a natural treasure of the UAE on the world map.”
The two students spent 10 weeks creating the campaign that focuses on involving school students. New7Wonders statistics show that children played a great role in the previous campaign. As the UAE has 80 per cent expatriate population, Khalifa and Haakon decided to use this to their advantage to raise awareness about Bu Tinah.
Unlike other entries, Bu Tinah is a protected and hence a restricted marine park. The students used an indigenous strategy of surrogate tourism to ensure that the beauty and concept of Bu Tinah would be available for all.
“We hope that we can help spark a wider research culture in the UAE, and apply academic projects to real-life issues,” said Norway-native Haakon Rist.
“When it comes to the campaign specifically, I think it is crucial that we get the message out that it’s not just about voting for Bu Tinah because it’s a naturally beautiful place anyway. The fact that marine life is surviving in harsh conditions — be it high salinity or higher temperatures than their normal eco-system — that is the real ‘wonder of nature’; and which is interesting to study, and deserves more attention.”
Bu Tinah is in the company of some of the world’s most amazing natural wonders in the Top 28 Shortlist, which includes the Amazon, the Great Barrier Reef, Grand Canyon, the Galapagos, the Dead Sea, Iguazu Falls, Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Maldives, the Sunderbans and Table Mountain.
As of last Sunday, Bu Tinah’s ranking was No. 12, and over 90 per cent of the votes come from outside the country. It is estimated that around one billion votes will be cast worldwide before the official declaration of the Official New7Wonders of Nature on November 11, 2011, chosen by the people of the world!
The Bu Tinah UOWD Team is waiting to officially share its strategy with the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD), which heads the Bu Tinah campaign. The EAD is very enthusiastic and supportive about the project and student involvement.
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