GENEVA (AP) -- The founder of the global poll that nominated the new seven wonders of the world now plans to immortalize the monuments by firing 3D photos into outer space.

The new seven wonders of the world - which include India's Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and Rome's Colosseum - were announced two weeks ago after a voting campaign conducted by the nonprofit organization New7Wonders.

"I think it would be worthwhile to conserve this memory at the beginning of the third millennium in the best possible way and make sure that even if the world gets destroyed, it will be retained somewhere," said Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, who launched the campaign in 1999.

Weber said he plans to send three-dimensional photo data stored on a golden disk to outer space.

"As a first step we plan to have three-dimensional photographic measurements taken (of the seven wonders) so that we can preserve them forever," he told The Associated Press in an interview. "Of course, it's a bit of a crazy idea, but I think it will inspire people."

The memory of the seven wonders of the world - which also include Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer, the rock city of Petra in Jordan, and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid - should be preserved even beyond the life span of our planet, Weber said.

Over 100 million people from around the world voted by Internet and cell phone text messages to chose the most popular landmarks from a list of 20 final candidates.

The pyramids of Giza, the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world, retained their status in addition to the new seven after indignant Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete.

Weber said the campaign will now continue with the nomination of the seven natural wonders, and then the seven technical wonders.

"For the first time, we're all creating global memory," he said.

The Greeks, whose Acropolis was not among the seven winners, were disappointed.

"Monuments do not have to parade on a podium like in a beauty contest," said Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis, adding that the seven wonders competition "has nothing to do with the true value of monuments."

But Weber said the poll was representative of the entire world with many votes coming from Asia, Africa and Latin America. In addition, participants could only cast one vote for a monument in their country. Their six other votes had to go to other sites.

Votes cast from African countries dramatically increased during the final two weeks, he said.

"Mali has sent in one week more votes than all of Germany together," he told the AP. But he said the surge came too late for Mali's Timbuktu.

Weber acknowledged that Latin America might be over-represented, with three of the seven new wonders coming from the continent.

"But look at the civilizations," he said, adding that the Inca and Maya civilizations were among the greatest in the last millennium.

Jordanians celebrated Petra's selection with fireworks in the capital and dancing in the ancient city.

The Chinese said they were proud the Great Wall was selected, though some worry that tourism and neglect are destroying the ancient crumbling fortification designed to defend against foreign invaders.

Weber's Switzerland-based foundation aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments. It relies on private donations and also made money selling broadcasting rights for the seven wonders announcement ceremony in Lisbon.

The foundation also helped set up a project to reconstruct the gigantic Buddha statues at Bamiyan, Afghanistan, by donating funds to build a three-dimensional model of the statues, said Weber.

The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO - which keeps a list of World Heritage Sites, now totaling 851 monuments - helped determine the criteria for site nominations in the early stages of the project. But it later distanced itself from the venture because UNESCO statutes prevented it from campaigning and expressing preference to any monuments, Weber said.

Earlier this month, UNESCO said it was keen to "void any damaging confusion" between its World Heritage program and Weber's campaign and that there was "no link whatsoever" between the two. It said the campaign was not scientific and "cannot...contribute to the preservation of sites elected by this public."

Weber said: "If they think this is damaging confusion they're not only insulting me, they're insulting millions of people out there."

He also shook off criticism that the campaign was unscientific, arguing that culture isn't determined by scientists because it belongs to the people.

Thousands of proposals for the new seven natural wonders have already been submitted, Weber said. The global poll for the natural wonders is expected to start in about three years, he said.