NATURAL LANDSCAPE, MARINE / COASTAL (26 whs)

Belize Barrier Reef
Brazilian Atlantic Islands
Cocos Island
Coiba National Park
Gough and Inaccessible Islands
Great Barrier Reef
Guanacaste
Gulf of California
Ibiza
Lagoons of New Caledonia
Malpelo
Ningaloo Coast
Papahanaumokuakea
Peninsula Valdes
Phoenix Islands
Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River
Rock Islands
Shark Bay
Shiretoko
Socotra Archipelago
Te Wahipounamu
Tubbataha Reefs
Wadden Sea
West Norwegian Fjords
Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino

My selection

Belize Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
Gulf of California
Lagoons of New Caledonia
Ningaloo Coast
Phoenix Islands
Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River
Shiretoko
Te Wahipounamu
Tubbataha Reefs

My selection:

Belize Barrier Reef
Brazilian Atlantic Islands
Coiba National Park
Gough and Inaccessible Islands
Great Barrier Reef
Guanacaste
Gulf of California
Lagoons of New Caledonia
Malpelo
Ningaloo Coast
Peninsula Valdes
Phoenix Islands
Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River
Rock Islands
Shark Bay
Shiretoko
Socotra Archipelago
Te Wahipounamu
Tubbataha Reefs
Wadden Sea
West Norwegian Fjords

My selection:

Belize Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
Brazilian Atlantic Islands
Rock Islands
Wadden Sea
Socotra
West Norwegian Fyords

My selection:

Great Barrier Reef
Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River
Wadden Sea

Am genuinely interested in how people chose/chose between the "marine rocks" - ie Gough etc, Malpelo and Brazil Atlantic.
Such sites can have value as refuges and/or endemism. They might also offer earth process value.
If the former we need to know that there is "nowhere" else and if the latter it needs to be significant.
If I had to choose 1 based on my current knowledge I would probably choose Gough - but that could largely be because I have been there!! (A factor which I suspect forms a number of our selections but which is of course not necessarily the best one!!)
Am I wrong??

Once again, here is the link to this category: Natural Landscape, Marine/Coastal for those who need it. For this category I'm making decisions partly based on sites I've already chosen for other categories. Here are my selections:

1. Great Barrier Reef -- the clearest shoo-in on the list; outstanding example of a tropical coral reef
2. Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River -- outstanding habitat from mountain to sea, with an underground river, in the Philippine archipelago
3. Te Waipaonamu -- outstanding fjords and glaciated landscapes in the southern hemisphere
4. West Norwegian Fjords -- classic example of fjords, among the world's longest and deepest, from the northern hemisphere
5. Gulf of California -- great biodiversity (almost 40% of the world's total marine mammal species) in this narrow gulf in dry, southwestern North America
6. Socotra Archipelago -- outstanding endemic flora and fauna on this island group near the Arabian Peninsula
7. Ibiza -- mixed site with representative Mediterranean marine and bird life; I might actually use this in place of Gulf of Porto which I'd originally thought to use to represent Mediterranean flora and fauna (it's really not just a party island; there's a lot more nature for those who look for it)
8. Peninsula Valdes -- representative Patagonian landscape by land; marine habitat for right whales, elephant seals, sea lions, and orcas by sea
9. Brazilian Atlantic Islands -- Atlantic rainforest off the northeast coast of Brazil, with representative marine and bird life


I chose based on regions. Brazil Atlantic covers a unique area of land/sea near the tropics in Brazil. I'm in favor of New Zealand's Sub-Antarctic Islands to represent bird life and marine life representative of the Southern Ocean (they're further south than Gough), but I'd love to hear other opinions about why alternative sites might be better to represent that region. As I think you mentioned in another thread, we unfortunately don't have South Georgia Island as a World Heritage Site, because that would be a great choice.

We are still missing views here.

I agree with Colvin on these sites.
I would add:
Papahanaumokuakea - One of the largest marine reserves in the world (an area larger than the nation of Germany), species endemism is over 40%.
Rock Islands - contains 52 marine lakes, more than at any other site in the world, high endemism.

I choose:
- Shark Bay for the ancient and important Stromatolites.
- Great Barrier Reef, biggest coral reef in the world.
- Norwegian Fjord, impressive representation of Fjord.
- Palau Rock Island, jelly fish kingdom, and unique marine lake.

Summarizing this one:

Belize Barrier Reef
Brazilian Atlantic Islands - Atlantic rainforest off the northeast coast of Brazil, with representative marine and bird life
Cocos Island
Coiba National Park
Gough and Inaccessible Islands
Great Barrier Reef - outstanding example of a tropical coral reef
Guanacaste
Gulf of California - great biodiversity (almost 40% of the world's total marine mammal species) in this narrow gulf in dry, southwestern North America
Ibiza
Lagoons of New Caledonia
Malpelo
Ningaloo Coast
Papahanaumokuakea
Peninsula Valdes - representative Patagonian landscape by land; marine habitat for right whales, elephant seals, sea lions, and orcas by sea
Phoenix Islands
Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River - outstanding habitat from mountain to sea, with an underground river, in the Philippine archipelago
Rock Islands - contains 52 marine lakes, more than at any other site in the world, high endemism
Shark Bay - for the ancient and important Stromatolites
Shiretoko
Socotra Archipelago - outstanding endemic flora and fauna on this island group near the Arabian Peninsula
Te Wahipounamu - outstanding fjords and glaciated landscapes in the southern hemisphere
Tubbataha Reefs
Wadden Sea
West Norwegian Fjords - classic example of fjords, among the world's longest and deepest, from the northern hemisphere
Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino

We should not forget that Te Wahipounamu got many votes from Glacier category and we thought that it could be a better representation in this one. one out of 26 natuaral whs seems too strict.

We can have (definite) representation of following category.


1. Reef- Great Barrier Reef -- the clearest shoo-in on the list; outstanding example of a tropical coral reef
2. underground river- Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River -- outstanding habitat from mountain to sea, with an underground river, in the Philippine archipelago
3. fjords - Te Waipaonamu -- outstanding fjords and glaciated landscapes in the southern hemisphere
4. marine lake- Rock Islands - contains 52 marine lakes (it gets 5 votes including mine, which is enough)

Summarizing once more, and recounting a bit because of spelling errors / differences:

Belize Barrier Reef
Brazilian Atlantic Islands - Atlantic rainforest off the northeast coast of Brazil, with representative marine and bird life
Cocos Island
Coiba National Park
Gough and Inaccessible Islands
Great Barrier Reef - outstanding example of a tropical coral reef
Guanacaste
Gulf of California - great biodiversity (almost 40% of the world's total marine mammal species) in this narrow gulf in dry, southwestern North America
Ibiza
Lagoons of New Caledonia
Malpelo
Ningaloo Coast
Papahanaumokuakea
Peninsula Valdes - representative Patagonian landscape by land; marine habitat for right whales, elephant seals, sea lions, and orcas by sea
Phoenix Islands
Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River - outstanding habitat from mountain to sea, with an underground river, in the Philippine archipelago
Rock Islands - contains 52 marine lakes, more than at any other site in the world, high endemism
Shark Bay - for the ancient and important Stromatolites
Shiretoko
Socotra Archipelago - outstanding endemic flora and fauna on this island group near the Arabian Peninsula
Te Wahipounamu - outstanding fjords and glaciated landscapes in the southern hemisphere
Tubbataha Reefs
Wadden Sea
West Norwegian Fjords - classic example of fjords, among the world's longest and deepest, from the northern hemisphere
Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino

The summary is not updated in allbyrank list.

Corsica's Gulf of Porto is missing from the initial list. It belongs to this category.
How do we want to rank it? Anyone for inclusion?