Gaza’s cultural heritage, terracotta sculptures in a Portuguese monastery, the Qhapaq Ñan Inca road system, historic lighthouses in Maine, and the Moon are among World Monuments Watch’s (WMW) list of 25 endangered sites for 2025, released today, January 15. The list is appended in its entirety at the end of this article.
Published every other year by the nonprofit, the Watch list is a nomination-based register raising awareness of threatened heritage sites around the world. Since its launch in 1996, 904 sites have been spotlighted across 135 countries plus Antarctica. This year’s list is the first to include sites from Angola, Zambia, and beyond Earth.
Specific threats to heritage discussed in this year’s list include human conflict, climate change, fast-paced urbanization, tourism, inadequate funding and resources, and finite local expertise and capabilities. It’s worth noting that WMF’s list is not necessarily comprehensive — for example, Sudan, where a bloody civil war has led to mass looting and destruction, and Artsakh, where the Azerbaijani regime is erasing Armenian cultural heritage, are not included on the 2025 register.
In Gaza, where Israel’s ongoing military assault has been classified as a genocide by human rights groups and international officials, the relentless bombardments on the region have not only taken a devastating toll on human life but also eviscerated mosques, markets, churches, and historic buildings integral to its history.
Within the first six months of Israel’s attacks, the military destroyed an estimated 60% of Gaza’s cultural heritage sites and monuments, including the Bronze-Age settlement of Tell el-‘Ajjul, the St. Hilarion monastery, and a 13th-century palace-turned-archaeological museum. Though a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas negotiators was reportedly approved today, Palestinians face a humanitarian crisis and an uncertain future.
Meanwhile, in Portugal, Baroque terracotta sculptures in the Alcobaça Monastery that were mostly produced by monks during the late 17th century continue to degrade due to environmental changes. In its list, WMF stated that training local artisans the necessary conservation skills could not only help preserve these works but also potentially revive a traditional ceramics craft.
Along the Maine coastline in the United States, the Northeast state’s remaining 66 historic lighthouses (57 of which still assist in navigation) face growing risk from rising sea levels and worsening storm surges as a result of climate change. Last January, back-to-back storms caused an estimated $5.5 million in damages to the iconic maritime beacons. Historical sites on East Africa’s Swahili Coast face similar threats, leaving local communities with the sole responsibility of safeguarding the centuries of African, Arab, and European cultural heritage that remain at these locations.
The Qhapaq Ñan Andean road system spanning Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru also made this year’s Watch register. Inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2014, the ancient road network is home to hundreds of historic archaeological sites and cultural heritage properties, including petroglyphs, community centers, ceremonial points, and agricultural systems, currently under pressure from modern developments and environmental changes.
And for the first time, the WMF has listed a site beyond Earth’s atmosphere: the Moon, facing potential threats from future human activity as interest in commercial space travel continues to grow. While historic sites on the Moon have remained well-preserved due to the absence of factors like wind and flowing water, future lunar exploration and tourism at the hands of private corporations risks disrupting these cultural heritage markers.
“Although the Moon might seem to sit outside of these issues, it represents a significant shared human legacy from its presence in cultural narratives to its role in recent history and faces mounting pressures from private interests,” WMF President and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur said in a statement. She pointed to the hundreds of human artifacts that currently reside on the moon’s surface, including the camera that filmed the televised moon landing and a memorial disk left behind by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
In addition to these relics, the Moon also has more than 90 historic sites associated with space exploration, such as Tranquility Base, the site of the first lunar landing where there are over 100 artifacts and humanity’s first footprints on the Moon’s surface.
“The moon’s inclusion serves as a reminder that safeguarding heritage — on Earth or beyond — requires proactive, cooperative solutions that anticipate emerging threats and set a precedent for preservation in new contexts,” de Montlaur said.
Below is the complete list of sites included on this year’s World Monuments Watch list:
- Monasteries of the Drino Valley, Albania
- Cinema Studio Namibe, Angola
- Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
- Buddhist Grottoes of Maijishan and Yungang, China
- Swahili Coast Heritage Sites, Comoros, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania
- Chapel of the Sorbonne, France
- Serifos Historic Mining Landscape, Greece
- Bhuj Historic Water Systems, India
- Musi River Historic Buildings, India
- Noto Peninsula Heritage Sites, Japan
- Erdene Zuu Buddhist Monastery, Mongolia
- Jewish Heritage of Debdou, Morocco
- Chief Ogiamien’s House, Nigeria
- Gaza Historic Urban Fabric, Palestine
- Waru Waru Agricultural Fields, Peru
- Terracotta Sculptures of Alcobaça Monastery, Portugal
- Ruins of Old Belchite, Spain
- Water Reservoirs of the Tunis Medina, Tunisia
- Historic City of Antakya, Türkiye
- Kyiv Teacher’s House, Ukraine
- Belfast Assembly Rooms, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
- The Great Trading Path, United States
- Historic Lighthouses of Maine, United States
- Barotse Floodplain Cultural Landscape, Zambia
- The Moon
