The World Monument Fund's endangered list for 2022

The Editors

May 10, 2022

From prehistoric cave paintings in the Amazon to a fortress built by Henry VIII, 25 of the world’s most precious heritage sites are in danger.

From prehistoric cave paintings in the Amazon to a fortress built by Henry VIII, 25 of the world’s most precious heritage sites are in danger, according to the latest bi-annual watch list from the World Monument Fund. But has the solution been staring us in the face?

In 1965, a not-for-profit sprang up in New York, dedicated to preserving the world’s most important heritage sites. It was called the World Monuments Fund (WMF).

Every second year since 1966, the WMF has released its Watch List, compiled and reviewed by the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and an independent panel of heritage experts. The mission? To raise awareness about world monuments under threat.

Alongside UNESCO, the WMF arguably does more for humanity’s collective heritage than anyone else. Over the years, they’ve raised over $300 million, trained 1000+ locals to protect their cultural sites, and helped preserve over 700 monuments around the world.

The World Monument’s 2022 Watch List arrived in March and features 25 sites from 24 different countries, from Sumba island in Indonesia and Beirut’s bomb-scarred heritage buildings, to Hurst Castle in the UK and the royal pyramids at Nuri in the Sudan. The final monuments were whittled down from a long-list of 225, chosen for their historical and cultural value—and, obviously, the level of threat each one is currently dealing with.

But what’s interesting about this year’s list is the range of threats, as well as the monuments themselves. Each site has its own particular conservation battles, but the WMF has placed the dangers into four broad categories: Climate change, underrepresentation, imbalanced tourism and crisis recovery. Each of these comes with its own unique challenges, but the crucial takeaway is that these threats aren’t isolated; they overlap one another.

“Innovative methods, as well as reinforcement of traditional knowledge, are necessary to mitigate its impact on heritage places and help communities adapt.”

- World Monument Fund

The Yanacancha-Huaquis Cultural Landscape in Peru, for example, is an ancient, pre-Inca water management system, which is still used by Andean people today. However, climate change is affecting the communities across the Cañete River basin, who rely on this water system, and many local Indigenous people have forgotten the maintenance practices of their ancestors, causing the dams and reservoirs to fall into disrepair.

It’s a story that’s repeated throughout the Watch List: Sites are under threat, from global warming, or overtourism, or conflict, or urban development, but also from neglect. To solve these problems, we first need to empower the traditional owners of the land.

Local communities and ancient knowledge could be the key to preserving our cultural heritage, which is why the WMF decided to add ‘underrepresentation’ as one of its key threats in 2022. Basically, we’ve been leaving monument protection to the wrong people.

“Inequities in heritage result in oversight and neglect of many significant places,” says the WMF. “Greater efforts should be made to amplify narratives that tell a more textured and complete story of humanity.

“Innovative methods, as well as reinforcement of traditional knowledge, are necessary to mitigate its impact on heritage places and help communities adapt.”

This is a refreshing take from a not-for-profit dedicated to preserving heritage sites, and one in-line with contemporary thoughts about extractive tourism. To protect local environments, and local monuments, we need to train and equip the people with the biggest personal stake in these places: locals. And those locals should reap the financial benefit.

Sometimes this will require legal intervention, as is the case with the Garcia Pasture in Texas, another site on the WMF’s 2022 Watch List. As the Rio Grande zigzags along Texas’ southern border, flowing into the state of Tamaulipas in Mexico, it passes through one of America’s most important archaeological sites, the Garcia Pasture, home to the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe.

“The cultural heritage and way of life of dozens of clans from the vast nation of Esto’k Gna is rapidly vanishing due to changing coastlines, rising tides, and a proposed energy development threatening the future of Garcia Pasture,” the WMF notes. “These losses compound a long history of disconnecting tribal members form their homeland.”

Despite overwhelming historical evidence, the Carrizo/Comecrudo have struggled to gain federal recognition in Texas, and this is threatening the preservation of Garcia Pasture.

It’s one of dozens of stories the WMF is trying to drag into the public spotlight this year, highlighting an obvious but perhaps forgotten truth: Monuments don’t exactly preserve themselves. They require attention, care, respect, money and collective effort. Our cultural heritage sites are delicate, and once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.

The Editors

Hailing from all across the globe, Adventure.com's team of editors is at the forefront of what's happening (and what's not-so-happening) in the world of travel and adventure.