With climate change, development, pollution and neglect destroying some of the world's most important destinations, Conde Nast Traveler has drawn up a list of "20 Places to See Before THEY Die." The list, in the magazine's May issue, looks at the threats facing these landmarks and how to best see these wonders before they disappear. The top 20 list:
1. Bagan, Myanmar - One of the world's finest examples of medieval Buddhist art and architecture is threatened by haphazard restoration and rebuilding.
2. Borneo, Indonesia - Logging is decimating the rainforest, home to hundreds of animal species, including the world's largest population of endangered wild orangutans. 3. Baku, Azerbaijan - A rare, walled city of mosques and marketplaces is being bulldozed to make room for the 21st century.
4. The Pantanal, Brazil - The world's largest freshwater wetland is almost entirely unprotected from deforestation and pollution and could be gone within 50 years.
5. Budapest's Jewish Quarter, Hungary - Modern buildings and parking lots destroy the character and art nouveau architecture in one of Europe's most historic Jewish anclaves.
6. Florida's Everglades, United States - This subtropical wilderness has already shrunk by half in the last century, threatened by a development boom.
7. Babylon, Iraq - Pillaging and looting are destroying the ancient city with its mud-brick ruins, stone sculptures, and the famous hanging gardens.
8. Bhutan, Southeast Asia - The isolated Himalayan nation and its tropical lowlands, pine forests, and wildlife are threatened by environmental degradation.
9. Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia - Climate change is shrinking the mountain's 18 snowcapped peaks, five major glaciers, lakes, and waterfalls.
10. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador - The 20-island archipelago is home to dozens of endemic species that are being endangered by a rapidly growing human presence.
11. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam - The tour-boat traffic and careless tourists jeopardize the turquoise waters, misty caves and limestone pillars.
12. Indonesia's Coral Triangle - Overfishing and climate change endanger the unparalleled biodiversity of the world's most diverse marine habitat.
13. Kathmandu Valley, Nepal - 2,000-year-old temples are crumbling because of uncontrolled urban development and insufficient preservation funds.
14. Luang Prabang, Laos - UNESCO's conservation regulations are ignored in the 300-year-old city by homeowners more interested in profiting from an influx of tourists.
15. Luxor, Egypt - Erosion from the Nile River dam and mismanaged tourism are harming thousands of Egyptian tombs.
16. Nosey Be, Madagascar - Resort developments are encroaching on the whales and turtles that make their home on the unspoiled beaches of the Mozambique Strait.
17. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania - Tourist traffic is damaging the roads and paths into the 2,000-foot-deep dormant volcanic crater and the delicate ecosystem it contains.
18. Michoacan Mountains, Mexico - Illegal logging is destroying the forests, the winter getaway for millions of monarch butterflies.
19. Galle Forte, Sri Lanka - After the 2004 tsunami, the cash-strapped government has little to spare for restoration of the crumbling 200-year-old Dutch bungalows.
20. Tibet - The once-cloistered Buddhist kingdom is being exposed to HIV and drugs, and is losing many of its traditional customs and language to the modern world.
