The 2022 Watch spotlights 25 heritage sites of extraordinary significance, facing pressing challenges, and where World Monuments Fund’s partnership with local communities has the potential to make a meaningful difference.
The 2022 open call resulted in more than 225 nominations that underwent extensive internal and external review by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and an independent panel of international heritage experts responsible for the final selection.
Representing 24 countries and spanning nearly 12,000 years of history, the 2022 Watch encompasses a broad range of examples of how global challenges manifest and intersect at heritage sites, providing opportunities to improve the lives of communities as they adapt for the future.
Global Challenges
- Climate change: As global warming continues to intensify, innovative methods as well as reinforcement of traditional knowledge are necessary to mitigate its impact on heritage places and help communities adapt.
- Underrepresentation: Inequities in heritage result in oversight and neglect of many significant places. Greater efforts should be made to amplify narratives that tell a more textured, just and complete story of humanity.
- Imbalanced Tourism: Both overtourism and lack of visitation endanger heritage places and often sideline or disrupt local communities and their way of life. Sustainable tourism strategies are needed to recalibrate the impact of tourism and ensure just outcome for local communities.
- Crisis Recovery: Armed conflict, natural disaster, and other types of destruction can cause irreparable damage to heritage places and communities. Community-led preservation efforts can participate in building resilience and regenerating the social fabric in places affected by crisis.
2022 Watch Sites
Active Project
Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home
Kinchela, Australia
A survivor-led effort seeks to transform a former government institution for Aboriginal boys forcibly taken from their families into a place of truth-telling and healing.
Active Project
La Maison du Peuple, Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
An important landmark and unique example of African modernism in Burkina Faso requires rehabilitation to enhance public life and foster civic pride.
Mosque City of Bagerhat
Bagerhat, Bangladesh
The religious landscape of ancient Khalifatabad requires climate adaptation to ensure its survival and continued service to the Bagerhat community.
Lamanai
Indian Church Village, Belize
An international tourist destination encompassing an ancient Maya city requires a more inclusive heritage management plan to help reinforce the relationship between the site and local residents.
Monte Alegre State Park
Brazil
Prehistoric cave paintings in the Amazon are threatened by environmental degradation and call for improved stewardship that engages and benefits nearby communities.
Fortified Manors of Yongtai
Fujian, China
Fortified family homes in remote southeast China present an opportunity for rural revitalization, community-led environmental management, and sustainable tourism.
Active Project
Abydos
Egypt
Tourism and encroachment at one of Ancient Egypt’s most important sites require technical expertise and careful planning to support sustainable preservation.
Active Project
Hurst Castle
Lymington, United Kingdom
A fortress built by Henry VIII that suffered partial collapse in 2021 illustrates the urgent need to address the impact of climate change on coastal heritage through continued monitoring.
Active Project
Asante Traditional Buildings
Near Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana
Sacred earthen shrines, among the last architectural vestiges of the Kingdom of Asante, face ongoing deterioration that call for new approaches to management and maintenance.
Active Project
Sumba Island
Indonesia
The sacred houses of the Sumbanese people will be lost without community-led training in the traditional knowledge necessary to maintain these structures and their layers of symbolic meaning.
Active Project
Tiretta Bazaar
Kolkata, India
India’s earliest Chinatown is home to minority communities seeking recognition for their history and urban revitalization to support their way of life.
Cultural Landscape of the Bunong People
Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia
Mapping and documentation of heritage places can support the Bunong people’s struggle to protect ancestral land from agro-industrial development and encroachment.
Heritage Buildings of Beirut
Lebanon
The vibrant coastal city of Beirut, devastated by the blast of August 2020, needs further recovery support to protect and rehabilitate the historic buildings essential to its identity.
Benghazi Historic City Center
Benghazi, Libya
Revival of an important public square in war-ravaged Benghazi can catalyze recovery efforts and serve as a symbol of community-driven urban resilience.
Koagannu Mosques and Cemetery
Maldives
A historic waterfront cemetery with distinct coral-stone architecture is threatened by rapidly rising seas and highlights the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for adaptive preservation solutions.
Active Project
Teotihuacan
San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico
More inclusive tourism planning and visitor management at an iconic archaeological park can help address economic challenges facing surrounding communities.
Active Project
Hitis (Water Fountains) of the Kathmandu Valley
Kathmandu Valley, Nepal
An extensive system of historic water distribution points and underground channels needs maintenance to ensure that local communities have reliable access to clean water.
Tomb of Jahangir
Lahore, Pakistan
The only imperial Mughal tomb in Pakistan requires restoration to foster new visitation and provide invaluable greenspace for community recreation within an expanding urban setting.
Active Project
Yanacancha-Huaquis Cultural Landscape
Miraflores District, Peru
Ancient pre-Inca water management systems and sustainable tourism planning are crucial for an Andean community to adapt to climate change and provide local economic benefit.
Active Project
Alcântara and Rocha do Conde d'Óbidos Maritime Stations (Almada Negreiros Murals)
Lisbon, Portugal
Mid-century murals by Afro-Portuguese artist José de Almada Negreiros need conservation to promote underrepresented narratives and serve as a catalyst for port revitalization.
Active Project
Fabric Synagogue and Jewish Heritage of Timișoara
Timișoara, Romania
Cultural mapping and restoration of a grand synagogue can bring renewed visibility to Jewish heritage in western Romania and promote local social cohesion.
Nuri
Sudan
Royal pyramids of the ancient Kingdom of Kush threatened by environmental factors require renewed management strategies and conservation interventions to prevent further deterioration.
Africatown
Mobile, Alabama, United States
A historic Alabama community established by formerly enslaved Africans is seeking support to leverage a recent archaeological discovery to protect their homes and call for environmental justice.
Active Project
Garcia Pasture
Brownsville, Texas, United States
The traditional territory of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas threatened by natural resource extraction and desecration of ancestral lands requires formal legal recognition to ensure its future.
Soqotra Archipelago
Yemen
The Soqotri people seek to protect and promote their identity through cultural mapping and inventory of their rich heritage across the island of Soqotra.
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The World Monuments Watch is a nomination based process that galvanizes individuals, communities, and leaders from across the public and private sectors to come together around global issues affecting heritage sites and sets the future direction of WMF’s field work.
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