The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has announced its 2025 World Monuments Watch, highlighting 25 sites facing significant challenges. This biennial program, launched in 1996, aims to raise awareness and mobilize action for the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide. The 2025 list includes diverse locations across five continents and, notably, the Moon, representing the need to protect artifacts from humanity's first lunar missions. The selection process involved over 200 nominations, revealing regional trends such as climate change impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa and urbanization challenges in Asia and the Pacific.
Sites on the Watch illustrate the interconnectedness of heritage preservation and broader societal issues. The inclusion of sites impacted by conflict (Ukraine's Teacher's House, Gaza's Historic Urban Fabric, and Antakya, Türkiye) underscores the importance of heritage in community resilience and recovery. Sites vulnerable to climate change, such as the Swahili Coast and Maine's historic lighthouses, highlight the urgent need for adaptation strategies. Over-tourism at sites like China's Buddhist grottoes and under-tourism affecting Albania's Drino Valley monasteries demonstrate the varying challenges faced by cultural heritage in the tourism sector.
The Moon's inclusion marks a first for the Watch, recognizing the need for international protocols to protect the historic artifacts left behind by the Apollo missions and future lunar activities. This underscores WMF's commitment to preserving heritage beyond Earth, acknowledging the universal significance of protecting our collective narrative, regardless of location. The WMF has already secured $2 million in funding for projects at these sites and will partner with Accor to support sustainable tourism initiatives.
Related Article
World Monuments Fund Announces Financing for New Projects to Safeguard Endangered Places WorldwideOver the next two years, the WMF will collaborate with local partners at each site to develop preservation strategies, including advocacy campaigns, research, and physical conservation efforts. The 2025 Watch serves as a call to action, bringing global attention to these important sites and encouraging international support for their preservation.
Read on to discover the list of 25 endangered sites on the 2025 World Monuments Watch, along with descriptions provided by the jury.
Monasteries of the Drino Valley, Albania
A constellation of Orthodox monasteries, once vital to Albania's social fabric, needs reinvestment after decades of abandonment—but could be a model for sustainable tourism via preservation.
Cinema Studio Namibe, Angola
Fifty years after its construction was abruptly halted, this modernist cinema lies in a state of decay, but a community effort could breathe new life into an unfinished landmark.
Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
An extraordinary pre-Hispanic road network is facing development pressure and environmental degradation, but local and international advocacy could achieve socially sustainable management.
Buddhist Grottoes of Maijishan and Yungang, China
Two breathtaking collections of rock-cut cave temples are feeling the impact of mass tourism, underscoring the need for innovative visitor management strategies.
Swahili Coast Heritage Sites, Comoros, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania
East Africa's distinctive heritage reflects centuries of African, Arab, and European cultural exchange, but storm surges and coastal erosion are threatening these sites and the communities that keep them alive.
Chapel of the Sorbonne, France
In Paris's Latin Quarter, this jewel of French architecture at the Sorbonne has suffered decades of conservation issues that must be addressed before it can reopen after years of closure.
Serifos Historic Mining Landscape, Greece
The rising Cycladic beach destination of Serifos possesses an irreplaceable record of Greece's industrial past, but comprehensive protections and conservation are needed to prevent imminent loss.
Bhuj Historic Water Systems, India
Ingenious water management systems have fallen out of use in favor of modern infrastructure—but as India's water crisis deepens, revitalizing this heritage technology could foster resource security.
Musi River Historic Buildings, India
Hyderabad's Musi River corridor, rich in history, faces mounting challenges from pollution—but as the city pursues its revitalization, heritage can provide a sense of continuity and other community benefits.
Noto Peninsula Heritage Sites, Japan
After a devastating earthquake in January 2024, restoring historic buildings in this hard-hit region can spur cultural, social, and economic recovery.
Erdene Zuu Buddhist Monastery, Mongolia
Addressing climate impacts at one of the few Buddhist sites to survive Mongolia's decades of anti-religious crackdowns can help train the country's future heritage experts.
Jewish Heritage of Debdou, Morocco
In Morocco's Atlas Mountains, documentation and advocacy are crucial for the survival of historic Jewish sites, which testify to an inspiring tradition of multi-faith respect and coexistence.
Chief Ogiamien's House, Nigeria
This millennium-old earthen structure faces an uncertain future as critical maintenance skills are lost, highlighting the need to preserve local building traditions.
Gaza Historic Urban Fabric, Palestine
Unprecedented destruction of heritage sites has severed vital connections between the people of Gaza and its urban fabric.
Waru Waru Agricultural Fields, Peru
An ancestral agricultural system offers a pathway to resilience and food security in the Lake Titicaca floodplains as local communities face climate change-induced droughts and migration.
Terracotta Sculptures of Alcobaça Monastery, Portugal
As environmental changes damage traditional terracotta sculptures, training local artisans to conserve these baroque masterpieces can help revive a local art tradition.
Ruins of Old Belchite, Spain
Conservation of a historic village left in ruins by the Spanish Civil War and neglected in the decades since can ensure that its remains endure as a site of memory and reconciliation.
Water Reservoirs of the Tunis Medina, Tunisia
Preserving traditional Tunisian water infrastructure, much of which has been forgotten or destroyed in favor of modern piping, can help the country weather increasingly severe droughts.
Historic City of Antakya, Türkiye
Preservation efforts in the ancient city of Antakya are desperately needed to address the devastation from the 2023 earthquakes and support the return of displaced residents.
Kyiv Teacher's House, Ukraine
The former legislative seat of a newly independent Ukraine, this national icon was severely damaged by a missile blast in 2022, highlighting war's impact on heritage and the power of preservation to catalyze healing.
Belfast Assembly Rooms, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Local advocates aim to repair and repurpose one of Belfast's oldest civic buildings, transforming it into a museum encouraging reflection on Northern Ireland's Troubles.
The Great Trading Path, United States
Preserving a historic trail can strengthen Indigenous links to ancestral lands, even as poor recognition of its significance and a need for more meaningful participation in decision-making leaves the site vulnerable.
Historic Lighthouses of Maine, United States
Facing rapidly intensifying coastal climate threats, Maine's historic lighthouses can catalyze the development of coastal adaptation strategies.
Barotse Floodplain Cultural Landscape, Zambia
Western Zambia is home to a remarkable landscape whose inhabitants have built their culture around seasonal river flooding, but erosion, droughts, and other climate effects are threatening these living traditions.
The Moon
As a new era of space exploration dawns, international collaboration is required to protect the physical remnants of early Moon landings and preserve these enduring symbols of collective human achievement.
