http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/09/TRGPE2O4941.DTL
[article excerpt]
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, November 9, 2003
It's now or never
Better see these treasured attractions before they crumble, sink and slip away
Huddled in dwindling hillside forests in the heart of Africa, the world's few remaining mountain gorillas are caught between poachers and land- starved farmers. Half a world away, the South Pacific islands of Tuvalu are sinking beneath an inexorably rising ocean. Closer to home, the endearingly kitschy mermaids of a Florida amusement park may soon sing their final notes, while lower Manhattan's 17th century buildings are threatened by post-terror- attacks redevelopment efforts.
If you want to see these or a number of other treasures, don't put it off.
It's likely that at least some of them will vanish in the coming years. From the historically and biologically irreplaceable to the poignantly frivolous, we're living at a time when the planet's heritage is under ever greater threat from war, neglect, climate change, overpopulation and unmanaged tourism.
Each year the World Monuments Fund issues a list of 100 endangered sites around the globe. (For the just-released 2004 list, visit www.wmf.org.) With support from American Express and other backers, the WMF has managed over the past decade to save a little more than half of the monuments on its lists. But many others are slipping away.
What follows is a sampling of 10 endangered monuments and attractions around the world, from pre-Columbian temples to long-distance train rides. The only thing they have in common is that they might not be around much longer. If you yearn to see them, you'd better act soon.
Mountain gorillas
Biologists estimate that only 650 mountain gorillas remain on two islands of dense highland jungle: Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and the Virunga Mountains conservation area, which straddles Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).
Poachers take their toll, and so does war: During the mid-1990s, the gorillas were caught in the crossfire of Congo's civil conflict as refugees entered the high forests seeking food and shelter. But the biggest threat is yet to come: Rwanda is already one of the most densely populated nations in the world, and its population is projected to double in the next two decades, creating pressure to cultivate gorilla habitat for food.
The plight of these gentle giants entered worldwide consciousness when conservationist Dian Fossey was murdered in 1985, probably by poachers. In the 1988 movie, "Gorillas in the Mist,'' Sigourney Weaver dramatized Fossey's effort to protect the gorillas.
Remarkably, the gorilla population appears to have increased by about 10 percent between 1990 and 2001, according to National Geographic News. However, some newborns show signs of in-breeding, such as webbed feet.
Today, visitors pay $250 for a chance to see mountain gorillas in their native habitats, and some of the money is going toward preservation efforts. A hopeful sign: Poaching is down as armed guards patrol the gorilla reserves.
