Moon Under Threat, Heritage Group Warns

The moon has been included on the 2025 World Monuments “Watch” list, announced today by the World Monuments Fund (WMF).

The list, which highlights cultural heritage sites or locations facing major challenges, features 25 selections spread out across five continents on Earth, and for the first time, the moon.

These locations face threats from climate change, tourism, human conflict and political crises, natural disasters, rapid urbanization or insufficient funding and resources.

Beside our planet’s natural satellite, other inclusions on the list this year are Gaza’s “historic urban fabric” and Teacher’s House in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The WMF describes itself as the “leading independent organization devoted to safeguarding the world’s most treasured places”—and it has more than 700 projects in 112 countries worldwide.

The organization launched the biennial World Monuments Watch in 1996 in order to build public awareness about threatened cultural heritage sites and mobilize action to protect them.

“The Watch underscores World Monument Fund’s commitment to ensuring that heritage preservation not only honors the past but actively contributes to building a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future for communities around the world and beyond,” WMF president & CEO, Bénédicte de Montlaur, said in a statement.

The 2025 selections were chosen by an independent panel of international heritage experts from more than 200 open-call nominations.

While the moon may seem like an unusual choice for the list, it is home to numerous historic sites from the age of space exploration, including Tranquility Base—the Apollo 11 mission landing site.

“The first moonwalks have captured the imagination of humanity and they definitely constitute one of the defining historical milestones of the 20th century. Today, the moon is home to 90 historic sites, including Tranquility Base, and hundreds of artifacts left by humans … including the Apollo 11 lander, a silicon disc holding goodwill messages from world leaders left behind, several flags, a gold olive branch and Neil Armstrong’s first footprint on the moon among many others,” de Montlaur told Newsweek.

Among the potential risks these cultural heritage sites face are exploitative visitation, looting and crash landings, according to the WMF. The hope is that including the moon on the list will call attention to the need for international agreements and protections for lunar heritage sites.

“As we enter a new age of space exploration, it seems necessary to put in place an international framework to protect this unique cultural landscape for the benefit of future generations and prevent unintentional damage from private companies and governments as space exploration is accelerating,” de Montlaur said.

The Watch list includes two entrants from the United States: the Great Trading Path—a historic trail that once served as a significant Native American trade route in the Southeast—and the historic lighthouses of Maine, which are facing rapidly intensifying coastal climate threats.

The inclusion of Gaza’s urban fabric on the list, meanwhile, acknowledges the widespread devastation that the territory has suffered at the hands of the Israeli military. Numerous culturally significant sites have been destroyed or damaged, including mosques, markets, churches and other historic buildings—not to mention the vast human death toll.

“In the case of Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis is unprecedented, inclusion on the Watch serves as a reminder of the atrocities of war as well as the important role that built heritage can play in the aftermath of the hostilities,” Montlaur said in the statement.

“The work of WMF has always been rooted in the belief that the preservation of our treasured historic places can foster mutual understanding and create economic and social opportunities, especially in post-conflict situations. Heritage can serve as a powerful pillar for recovery, helping communities rebuild their identity and sense of place once the conditions on the ground allow for this kind of work to happen,” he told Newsweek.

The list also includes Teacher’s House in Kyiv—a significant cultural and historic landmark that sustained significant damage from a Russian missile strike amid the ongoing war, although restoration efforts have been underway since.

The iconic building is a symbol of Ukrainian sovereignty, having served as the first meeting place for the Central Rada—the governing body of the short-lived Ukrainian People’s Republic—which declared independence from Soviet Russia in 1918.

To date, the WMF has contributed more than $120 million toward projects at nearly 350 sites included on its Watch list over the years. The visibility afforded by being included on the list has also helped raise an additional $300 million, the organization says.

The 2025 World Monuments ‘Watch’ List

• The Orthodox Christian monasteries of the Drino Valley, Albania
• Cine Estudio Namibe, an abandoned modernist cinema in Namibe, Angola
• Qhapaq Ñan, an extraordinary pre-Hispanic road system that stretches across Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
• The Buddhist grottoes of Maijishan and Yungang, China
• The heritage sites of East Africa’s Swahili coast in Comoros, Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania
• The Chapel of the Sorbonne in the Latin Quarter of Paris, France
• The historic mining Landscape of the Greek island of Serifos
• The historic rainwater collection systems of Bhuj, India
• Historic buildings along the Musi River in Hyderabad, India
• Heritage sites of the Noto Peninsula, Japan
• The Erdene Zuu Buddhist monastery, Mongolia
• Jewish heritage sites of Debdou in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains
• Chief Ogiamien’s House, a historic building in Benin City, Nigeria
• Gaza’s historic urban fabric
• The ancient Waru Waru agricultural system developed by pre-Hispanic civilizations in the Andes, particularly around Lake Titicaca in present-day Peru and Bolivia.
• The terracotta sculptures of Alcobaça Monastery, Portugal
• The ruins of the historic village of Belchite, Spain
• Water reservoirs of the Tunis Medina, Tunisia
• The historic city of Antakya, Turkey
• Teacher’s House in Kyiv, Ukraine
• The Belfast Assembly Rooms in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
• The Great Trading Path, United States
• The historic lighthouses of Maine, United States
• The Barotse Floodplain cultural landscape in Zambia
• The moon

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