World Monuments Fund Announces 2006 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites

The World Monuments Fund (WMF), the foremost private, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the historic, artistic, and architectural heritage worldwide, today released its 2006 World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. The biennial Watch list is a call to action on behalf of threatened culturalheritage monuments worldwide. By bringing the sites to international attention, the list helps to raise the funds needed for their rescue and often spurs local governments and communities to take an active role in protecting cultural icons in their regions. For many landmarks, inclusion on the Watch list is the best—and perhaps the only—hope for survival.