Blue Mountains Not in Worlds Top 12 Iconic Mountains Disappointing, Pleased for Caribbean – Joe Issa

Businessman and philantropist Joe Issa, who fully supported Jamaica’s successful bid to list the Blue Mountains on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site, has expressed disappointment at the omision of the iconic mountain among the world’s top 12, stating, however, that he is pleased for the inclusion of the Caribbean.

 

“I was very disappointed when I read the story and didn’t see the Blue Mountains on the list, but I was pleased to see a Caribbean country in the top 12.

 

“I have always been a fan of the pitons in St. Lucia and was glad to see it on the list…It’s a great site,” said Issa, of a recent survey in which Jamaica’s Blue Mountains did not feature on a list of the world’s top 12 iconic mountains.

 

The list, which was compiled by United States television network CNN travel, placed at No. 1, the 28,251 feet K2 " the world’s second highest peak after Mount Everest. K2, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen, is located on the China-Pakistan border.

 

Japan’s highest mountain at 12,389 ft, Mount Fuji, which attracts over 200,000 annual climbers, is at No.2. It is an active stratovolcano on Honshu Island and last erupted in 1707"08.

Mount Fuji has an exceptionally symmetrical cone and is capped by snow for months. It is Japam’s premier symbol, often portrayed in art and photographs. Mount Fuji, Mount Tate and Mount Haku are Japan’s “Three Holy Mountains”. 

 

Africa’s highest mountain, Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro with its three volcanic cones, "Kibo", "Mawenzi", and "Shira", is at No. 3. The mountain has been the subject of many scientific studies because of its shrinking glaciers and disappearing ice fields.

 

Uhuru Peak, the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim has lost 23 feet in height in 62 years, coming from 19,341 ft when it was measured by a Britiah Ordinance Survey in 1952, to 19,318 ft in 2014.

 

At No.7, the Pitons, St. Lucia’s defining pair of volcanic spires, put the Caribbean on the map for iconic mountains. Linked by the Piton Mitan ridge, the Pitons are two volcanic plugs in a World Heritage Site.

 

The most photographed landmark on the island, the larger of the two volcanic plugs, Gros Piton, at 2,619 ft, is the second highest peak on the island while the other, Petit Piton, weights in at 2,481ft above sea level.

 

The Pitons beat the likes of Washington State’s highest peak, Mount Rainier, a glaciated volcano encased in over 35 square miles of snow and ice; and Mount Sinai, Egypt’s sacred site to Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

 

Mount Fitz Roy, which is located near the end of the world in Patagonia, Argentina, was placed No.10; while Uluru, a rock in the remote central Australian desert which draws over 250,000 visitors each year made it at No.12.

 

The journey of the Blue and John Crow Mountains Natonal Park to UNESCO’s World Heritage List was closely followed by Issa, from application to inscription.

 

In a 2014 article in US news distributor PRWeb, Issa backed Jamaica’s application, stating that the iconic site “is a formidable Jamaican heritage, harboring the country’s rich and diverse flora and fauna and its major watersheds.”

 

And when the site finally got on list in 2015, he was once again reported hailing the success, saying “it’s great news for Jamaica’s tourism product and the Maroons who have live there for hundreds of years,” and immediately calling for the “monetization and protection” of the site to commence in earnest.