World Monuments Fund (WMF) released its 2020 World Monuments Watch, a biennial selection of at-risk cultural heritage sites that combine great historical significance with contemporary social impact.
The list?s 25 sites are facing daunting threats such as encroaching urbanization, political turmoil, natural disaster, and violent conflicts, or present compelling conservation opportunities.
Every two years, communities, individuals, and other entities nominate heritage sites in need of urgent action that demonstrate the potential to trigger social change through conservation. The 2020 Watch received more than 250 nominations, and its 25 sites were determined through a series of extensive reviews, including an independent panel of heritage experts that was responsible for the final selection. The 2020 Watch includes Bears Ears National Monument (United States); Sacred Valley of the Incas (Peru); Notre-Dame de Paris (France); the San Antonio Woolworth Building (United States); Mam Rashan Shrine (Iraq); and Rapa Nui National Park (Chile).
By Gerd Eichmann ? Wikimedia Commons
By Emmanuel DYAN from Paris, France – Sacred Valley (around Pisaq), Peru ? Wikimedia Commons
The program will culminate next spring, when founding sponsor American Express will select a group of 2020 Watch sites to receive $1 million total in funding for conservation initiatives.
World Monuments Fund will also partner with local stakeholders of each heritage site to design and implement targeted activi...