World Monuments Fund Puts Moon on List of At-Risk Sites

For years, the World Monuments Fund has sought to draw attention and resources to endangered cultural heritage sites including Machu Picchu in Peru, temples in Cambodia and the old city of Taiz in Yemen.But this year’s list of at-risk sites goes much further afield: to the moon.“The moon seems so far outside of our scope,” said Bénédicte de Montlaur, the organization’s president and chief executive. “But with humans venturing more and more into space, we think it is the right time to get ourselves organized.”Concerned that the new space race could exacerbate space debris and expand tourism in orbit and beyond, the group named the moon as one of the 25 endangered sites on its 2025 World Monuments Watch. The other sites on the list, endangered by challenges including climate change, tourism, conflict and natural disasters, include Gaza, a damaged historical building in Kyiv, and eroding coastlines in Kenya and the United States.With a growing number of wealthy people going to space and more governments pursuing human spaceflight, the group warns that more than 90 important sites on the moon could be harmed. In particular, some researchers are worried about Tranquillity Base, the Apollo 11 landing site where the astronaut Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the moon’s surface.Protections for cultural heritage are typically decided by individual countries, which makes the task of taking care of important international sites like the moon more difficult.Since 2020, the United States and 51 other countries have signed the Artemis Accords, a nonbinding agreement that outlined the norms expected in outer space. The rules included a call to preserve space heritage including “robotic landing sites, artifacts, spacecraft and other evidence of activity on celestial bodies.” A separate binding United Nations agreement provided for the protection of lunar sites, but there has been little progress in getting key countries to sign it.“The moon doesn’t belong to anybody,” de Montlaur said. “It is a symbol of hope and the future.”For almost 30 years, the World Monuments Fund has received nominations for its watch list of endangered sites from heritage experts around the world. The list is an educational and promotional tool serving the nonprofit’s other efforts to preserve cultural heritage.A division of the International Committee on Monuments and Sites devoted to aerospace heritage nominated the moon for the nonprofit watch list. Gai Jorayev, president of that division, said that members wanted to see sustainable management because of the “sheer number of human artifacts on its surface.”Beyond the lunar orbiters and rangers scattered across the moon’s surface that express scientific achievements, there are also artifacts of human culture. Apollo 11 astronauts left a golden olive branch to symbolize peace, while a SpaceX rocket lifted a lander that carried 125 miniature sculptures by the artist Jeff Koons to the moon’s surface last year.And while many experts agree that lunar heritage needs better protections, some specialists questioned the World Monuments Fund’s claims that space heritage faced immediate risks.“It is a little drastic to say the entire moon needs to be protected from tourism and science,” said Michelle Hanlon, a space lawyer who helped establish a nonprofit called For All Moonkind to advocate for an international framework protecting lunar heritage.She said that many upcoming scientific expeditions are headed to sites far from previous landings, but that tourist spacecraft might disturb historic sites without better regulations in place. Hanlon added that another danger could come from defunct satellites crashing into the lunar surface. “The moon doesn’t have an atmosphere that will burn them up,” she said.At the World Monuments Fund, staffers expect a future where space tourism is more common. “It is not so far away that there is going to be recreational visits to the moon,” said Jonathan Bell, vice president of programs. “We see putting the moon on the watch list as a wonderful opportunity to advocate for the need and value of preservation.”