The Moon has been included for the first time on the list of endangered sites by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) due to concerns about potential looting and destruction from planned commercial missions.
The list, which traditionally covers cultural heritage sites on Earth, this year also includes locations such as Qhapaq Nan, a pre-Hispanic Andean road; Antakya in Turkey; and Japan’s Noto Peninsula, all of which were damaged in recent earthquakes.
WMF President and CEO Benedicte de Montlaur stated that the Moon was added to the list due to “increasing risks from accelerated activities on the Moon,” which, according to WMF, are being carried out without proper preservation protocols.
On Wednesday, SpaceX launched two lunar spacecraft to research future missions. So far, only five countries – the United States (U.S.), China, India, Japan, and the former Soviet Union – have successfully landed spacecraft on the Moon since the 1960s.
Commercial flights to the Moon are expected to follow NASA’s Artemis III mission, scheduled for mid-2027. This mission will be the first human-crewed landing on the Moon since the 1970s, and WMF has expressed particular concern over potential damage to historic sites, such as the footprints of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
“For the first time, the Moon has been included on the list to recognize the urgent need to preserve artifacts that bear witness to humanity’s first steps beyond Earth – a key moment in our shared history,” de Montlaur said.
She emphasized that items such as the camera that recorded the Moon landing, the memorial plaque left by astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, and hundreds of other objects are of extraordinary importance for preserving collective heritage.
In addition to the Moon, the WMF list includes sites affected by conflicts, such as Ukraine and Gaza, and those threatened by the climate crisis. The African Swahili Coast, including the Kenyan town of Lamu and Fort Jesus, as well as Mozambique Island, face threats from coastal erosion.
The WMF also highlighted the need for sustainable tourism at certain sites, such as Orthodox monasteries in Albania’s Drino Valley, while overcrowding at Chinese Buddhist sites Maijishan and Yungang was identified as an additional risk to their preservation.
