World Monuments Fund Totally Explained

Everything about The World Monuments Fund totally explained

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a New York-based private, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training. Founded in 1965, WMF was originally called the International Fund for Monuments. Today, WMF has offices and affiliates in Britain, France, Portugal, and Spain. Through contributions and matching funds, WMF has worked with community and government partners worldwide to rescue more than 500 sites in over 90 countries, including the temple of Preah Khan at Angkor and St. George's Church, Bloomsbury. In 2006, the World Monuments Fund launched Modernism at Risk, an advocacy and conservation program for Modern buildings.

World Monuments Watch

Beginning in 1996 with the support of American Express, WMF has published the World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. This is different from the World Heritage List and List of World Heritage in Danger maintained by UNESCO, although the WMF Watch list often has sites from the broader UNESCO List. The World Monuments Watch list draws international attention to cultural heritage sites around the world threatened by neglect, vandalism, armed conflict, or natural disaster. Through the Watch, WMF fosters community support for the protection of endangered sites, and attracts technical and financial resources to aid the sites.
Watch sites are selected by an independent panel of experts from nominations submitted by governments, preservation professionals, NGOs, and others. Sites of all types and from all time periods—from ancient to modern—are eligible. “Monuments” can be archaeological sites; residential, civic, commercial, military, or religious architecture; cultural landscapes; and townscapes. The 2008 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites was announced June 6, 2007 by Bonnie Burnham, president of the World Monuments Fund. This year’s list highlights three critical man-made threats: political conflict, unchecked urban and industrial development, and, for the first time, global climate change. The 2008 Watch List clearly shows that human activity has become the greatest threat of all to the world’s cultural heritage, causing irreparable harm to many of the important places in the world that provide unique access to shared human history.
"We have met the enemy and he's us" -- Walt Kelly, Cartoonist & Environmental Activist

The 2008 List includes

Sites threatened by global climate change

Herschel Island, Canada
Chinguetti Mosque, Mauritania
Sonargaon-Panam City, Bangladesh
Leh Old Town, Ladakh, India

Sites threatened by conflict

Cultural Heritage Sites of Iraq

Bamiyan Buddhas, Afghanistan

Church of the Holy Nativity, Bethlehem

Famagusta Walled City, Cyprus

Sarajevo City Hall, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Srinigar Heritage Zone, India

Freetown Historic Monuments, Sierra Leone

Sites threatened by economic and development pressures

Tara Hill, Ireland

Rock art at Dampier, Australia (Murujuga), and Macusani-Corani, Peru

Machu Picchu, Peru

Saint Petersburg Skyline, Russia

Old Damascus, Syria

Hasankeyf, Turkey

Historic cities

Srinigar Heritage Zone, India

Lima Historic City Center, Peru

Amber Town, India

La Huaca Historic Neighborhood, Veracruz, Mexico

Kandy, Sri Lanka

Ohrid, Macedonia

Modern architecture

Main Street Modern, United States

Modern Shanghai, China

Florida Southern University Historic Campus, United States

St Peter's Seminary, Cardross, Scotland

The Salk Institute, California, United States

Montemar Institute of Marine Biology, Chile

Joan Miró Foundation, Spain

Geographical regions of note

Africa and the Middle East

Ikom monoliths of Cross River, Nigeria

Historic Kilwa, Tanzania

Wa Naa's Palace, Ghana

Loropeni Ruins, Burkina Faso

Medracen and el-Khroub Numidian Royal Mausolea, Algeria

Shunet el-Zebib at Abydos, Egypt

Al Azhar Mosque in Fez, Morocco

The ancient baths of Qusayr 'Amra, Jordan

Bumbusi National Monument, Zimbabwe

The Americas

Tutuveni Petroglyph Site, Hopi Tribal Land, Arizona

Brener Synagogue, Moisés Ville, Argentina

New York State Pavilion, Queens, New York

Historic Route 66, United States

Teuchitlán Guachimontones Archaeological Zone, Mexico

Capitanes Generales Palace, GuatemalaFurther Information

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