Help save endangered sites; World Monuments Watch nominations due March 15

On travels abroad, we’ve all seen sites in various states of disarray due to negligence, catastrophe, vandalism or environmental degradation. Such endangered places on the last biennial World Monuments Watch list, for 2008, included Falmouth Historic Town in Jamaica; cultural heritage sites of Iraq; modern Shanghai in China; the 16th-century Darbush Tomb in Massawa, Eritrea; and Machu Picchu in Peru.

But this list, released by the World Monuments Fund, wasn’t limited to the far-flung. Some domestic inclusions were the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego; the historic neighborhoods of New Orleans; the Tutuveni Petroglyph Site on Hopi land in Arizona; and Americana classic Route 66.

“We all take for granted that the places we love will be around forever, but that’s not always the case,” said actress Jeanne Tripplehorn, an organization spokesperson in a news release. “Route 66, a place that is close to my heart, runs through my hometown of Tulsa, Okla., and ends not too far from where I now live in Los Angeles. Its iconic American landscape has slowly been falling into ruin, the victim of decay, demolition, and development.”

Their placement on the 2008 Watch list — and thus, public awareness generated — helped garner support for Route 66 and other sites. The lists act as “an urgent call to action on behalf of cultural heritage sites at risk across the globe, and [are] the World Monuments Fund’s most successful advocacy tool,” according to the organization.

Do you know of a site, whether ancient or contemporary, that deserves placement on the next Watch list? Nominations are now rolling in for the 2010 group and can be submitted by anyone familiar with the site, from private individuals to representatives of nonprofit, governmental or non-governmental organizations.

The deadline is March 15, 2009. A panel of experts will select the top 100 sites from the nominations, and the final list will be announced in fall 2009.

Contact: World Monuments Fund

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Top photo: Machu Picchu. Credit: Peru; Paolo Aguilar / EPA]

[Middle photo: Along Route 66. Credit: World Monuments Fund]

[Bottom photo: Tutuveni Petroglyph Site on Hopi Tribal Land. Credit: World Monuments Fund]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 2:00 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Africa & Middle East, Arizona, Asia, California, China, Eco-Travel, Global, Latin America & Caribbean, Los Angeles, New Orleans & Louisiana, News, Tips & Advice, San Diego. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.