Specialists fear planned commercial flights could compromise lunar heritage, including Neil Armstrong’s bootprints.

For the first time, a location beyond Earth has been listed as vulnerable by the World Monuments Fund, an international nonprofit that every two years highlights 25 heritage sites at risk.

Every year, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) compiles a list of heritage sites it deems at risk, with the aim of building awareness and mobilizing action. These sites are usually Earth-bound, as you’d expect. But this year, the nonprofit has included on its World Monuments Watch an otherworldly entry: the Moon.

The organization said that more than 90 important sites on the moon could risk destruction if space tourism is left unregulated.

The World Monuments Fund has been publishing its World Monuments Watch every two years since 1996 to build awareness and concern for endangered places. To-date, it’s funded $120 million towards preserving almost 350 sites around the globe.

Every two years, the nonprofit World Monuments Fund releases a list of cultural heritage sites it deems most at risk of disappearing because of threats like war or climate change. The line-up of landmarks usually includes historic temples,

The World Monuments Fund list seeks to raise awareness and funds to help preserve the sites it spotlights. Africa's Swahili Coast, Maine's lighthouses and Buddhist grottoes in China are also in peril.

The Moon has been added to the World Monuments Watch (WMW) list of 25 endangered sites for 2025, alongside Gaza’s cultural heritage and terracotta sculptures in a Portuguese monastery. View on euronew