The Moon has been added to the World Monuments Watch (WMW) list of 25 endangered sites for 2025, alongside Gaza’s cultural heritage and terracotta sculptures in a Portuguese monastery.
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The World Monuments Watch has published its biennial list of endangered sites, highlighting not only places on Earth but, for the first time, one beyond it: the Moon.
Since its inception in 1996, the non-profit initiative has spotlighted 904 sites across 135 countries and even Antarctica, aiming to raise awareness and funding to protect cultural and historical landmarks under threat.
Perhaps the most surprising addition to the 2025 Watch List is the Moon. Once a symbol of human aspiration, it now faces potential risks from future human activities, particularly as commercial space travel gains momentum.
“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.
This warning comes as SpaceX launched two private robotic landers to the Moon on 15 January, the same day the WMWa released its report. NASA’s Artemis programme also aims to return humans to the Moon this decade, with plans for a permanent lunar base to support eventual Mars missions.
Adding to these threats is the growing accumulation of “space junk” orbiting the Moon, as well as the rise of space tourism.
What other sites are on the 2025 endangered list?
This year’s list highlights a range of challenges facing global heritage, including human conflict, climate change, rapid urbanisation and overtourism.
Sites on the list that fall under climate change threats include Africa’s Swahili Coast, where rising sea levels and extreme weather jeopardise centuries-old cultural landscapes including mosques and tombs, and 67 historic lighthouses along Maine’s coastline, which face similar risks from coastal erosion and intensifying storms.
Natural disasters have also left their mark. The historic city of Antakya in Turkey is named on the list, having been severely damaged by the devastating Mw 7.8 earthquake in 2023.
The list also includes several locations affected by human conflict, such as The Teacher’s Housein Kyiv, Ukraine. was listed. The large dome building, which houses the Pedagogical Museum, suffered extensive damage when a Russian missile shattered its windows, doors, and iconic glass dome in 2022.
“It is one of thousands of Ukrainian cultural sites that have been damaged or destroyed since the war with Russia began in 2022,” the WMF notes on its website.
Gaza is also featured, a region devastated by conflict. Following Hamas’s attack into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, and the subsequent Israeli military response, Gaza's cultural heritage has been under immense threat. However, a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas announced on 15 January hopes for a pause in hostilities and the release of hostages.
“As we all know, the Middle East is a cradle of civilisation. And in Gaza, you have examples of those various communities and their heritage that have lived there,” said WMF president and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur.
Other notable sites on the list include the terracotta sculptures of Alcobaça Monastery in Portugal, the historic Chapel of the Sorbonne in France, and the Belfast Assembly Rooms in Northern Ireland, UK.
Full 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
