In 1972 an agreement was signed by 145 countries to protect those places of natural or cultural interest which the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had deemed to be sites of "World Heritage." Of the 721 sites thus designated by the 167 signatories to date, some 167 are classified as areas of "natural heritage"--Locations containing natural features that are "of outstanding universal value from an esthetic or scientific point of view." Claes Grundsten and Peter Hanneberg have traveled the world for ten years visiting the most beautiful of these natural heritage sites and observing and documenting this protected global network and its magnificent collection of geological, zoological, and biological diversity. In Our Magnificent Wilderness, Grundsten and Hanneberg are our personal guides, taking us on a journey to visit some of the most spectacular and precious places on Earth. Through their words and pictures, we experience the best of our awe-inspiring natural heritage sites. The authors' selection spans six continents and includes the great landscapes of North America, such as the Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Everglades National Parks; stunning sites in Africa, from the endless savanna of Serengeti, with its herds of migratory mammals, to the peaks of Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, which both offer the extraordinary spectacle of snow at the Equator; and the breathtaking beauty of Central and South America, from the neotropical dry forest of Costa Rica in the north to Argentina in the south, with its extensive waterfalls and windswept, sun-parched salt lakes. Also featured are some of the finest mountain regions of Europe and Asia, many of them containing significant populations of endangered wildlife. And within the expanse of Oceania exists a rich variety of flora, fauna, and marvelous landscape features, including the haunting presence of Uluru-Kata Tjuta (Ayer's Rock) in Australia's "red center." For its winning combination of evocative, engaging prose, fact-filled information boxes, and more than 200 striking photographs taken by the authors themselves, Our Magnificent Wilderness was selected as Sweden's Panda Book of the Year 2001 by the World Wildlife Fund.