In a sobering new study released this week, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) has identified a deepening crisis in the preservation of global cultural heritage. According to the organization’s findings, insufficient public funding has solidified its position as the primary threat to historic sites worldwide, currently outpacing both the accelerating dangers of climate change and a widening global expertise gap in the field of conservation.
The research was conducted as part of the rigorous nomination process for the WMF’s forthcoming 2027 World Monuments Watch list, a biennial publication that serves as a diagnostic tool for the state of global heritage. Since its inception in 1996, the list has acted as a mechanism to identify and draw attention to sites facing urgent risks, providing a platform to advocate for resources and policy shifts. The 2027 cycle has been met with unprecedented engagement, having received 372 nominations—a figure nearly double the number submitted for the 2025 list.
The data derived from these nominations paints a grim picture of the fiscal landscape surrounding preservation. A total of 65 percent of the 372 nominators identified funding shortages and economic development pressures as their primary challenge. This represents a significant and concerning increase from the 55 percent of respondents who cited these same issues in 2024, signaling that the economic strain on cultural preservation is intensifying at a rapid pace.
The Widening Gap in Capacity and Expertise
“This year’s nominations show that pressures on heritage are intensifying as funding, capacity, and expertise struggle to keep pace,” said Bénédicte de Montlaur, president and chief executive of the WMF, in a statement accompanying the report.
De Montlaur highlighted the systemic nature of the problem, noting that the crisis is not merely a localized issue but a global systemic failure. “According to findings in the UNESCO Global Report on Cultural Policies, only one in four countries has the means to safeguard its heritage,” she noted. “Communities are being asked to do more with less as climate change accelerates, and the skills needed to care for these places are being lost. These findings are a call to action, and they will help guide where our work is needed most.”
The implications of this funding shortfall are far-reaching. As global pressures—including political instability, armed conflict, and the climate crisis—continue to mount, the ability of national governments to prioritize heritage conservation is diminishing. De Montlaur observed in an interview with The Art Newspaper that there is a discernible trend among some of the world’s most historically supportive governments to retreat from their traditional commitments.
“We are seeing governments, particularly in Europe and the US, which have been some of the most supportive of heritage preservation, reducing or stopping national and international funding for public resources,” De Montlaur said. “In that environment, culture and heritage are often among the first to face cuts.”
Shifting Models of Preservation and Economic Resilience
In response to the retrenchment of public funds, the WMF is advocating for a shift in how conservation projects are conceived and financed. De Montlaur emphasized the need to broaden the funding base by forging strategic partnerships with individuals, private foundations, and the corporate sector.
“The most promising models bring the public sector together with governments and local communities, and highlight how heritage intersects with economic development, climate change, tourism management, and other important societal issues beyond the cultural field,” De Montlaur explained.
The study challenges the prevailing narrative that heritage conservation is a drain on public coffers. Instead, it argues that heritage sites are essential drivers of long-term economic resilience. Cutting funding may offer short-term budgetary relief, but the study warns that such decisions often lead to greater socioeconomic losses over time. This perspective is shared by the nominators themselves: more than 60 percent of those surveyed identified specific opportunities for heritage sites to act as catalysts for local economic growth through sustainable tourism, urban revitalization, and job creation.
Technical Expertise and the Climate Crisis
Beyond the immediate crisis of capital, the report highlights a critical human resources challenge. The lack of technical expertise was identified as the second-most significant issue, affecting approximately 35 percent of the nominated sites. This data point underscores an urgent need to invest in the next generation of conservators and traditional craftspeople. Without a skilled workforce capable of utilizing both ancestral techniques and modern technological advancements, the physical integrity of global monuments remains in jeopardy.
The third-largest threat, reported by roughly 30 percent of nominators, involves extreme weather events. Climate-related hazards, including flooding, violent storms, prolonged droughts, and catastrophic wildfires, are increasingly damaging the structural integrity of cultural assets. While this is a global issue, the study notes that the impact is particularly severe in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, for heritage sites located within the Middle East and Africa, the compounding effects of climate change are often exacerbated by ongoing conflicts and the subsequent struggle for peace-building and stability.
The broader international community, including bodies like UNESCO, continues to struggle with the scale of the need. Since 1978, UNESCO has approved an average of just $1 million per year in international assistance for World Heritage sites, a group that now totals 1,273 locations. This level of funding is widely considered insufficient to address the modern threats faced by such a vast array of sites.
A Call for Collective Advocacy
The sentiment expressed by WMF leadership is echoed by partner organizations that see heritage as a fundamental human right. Clément Rouxel, general delegate of the AXA Foundation for Human Progress, emphasized that the value of these sites transcends their physical form. “Preserving heritage is not only about restoring monuments; it is about safeguarding the stories and landmarks that connect generations,” he said.
Brinda Somaya, chair of the World Monuments Watch International Expert Panel, echoed these concerns, stressing that the risks identified in the report extend well beyond the monuments themselves. “The key challenges identified through WMF’s Watch nomination analysis—such as severe underfunding and escalating climate hazards—pose serious risks not only to our global heritage but to the communities that care for them,” Somaya stated.
She concluded that the protection of these sites is a multifaceted task that requires a shift in political and social prioritization. “Many of these sites carry within them the memory, resilience, and identity of the communities associated with them,” Somaya noted. “Their protection therefore goes beyond the conservation of a place; it calls for thoughtful advocacy, technical expertise, resources, and partnerships that can help sustain their significance for the future.”
As the World Monuments Fund prepares to announce the final 2027 World Monuments Watch list in February, the data released this week serves as a stark reminder of the fragile state of the world’s shared history. The shift toward a more integrated, partnership-driven model of preservation appears not merely as a preference, but as an absolute necessity in an era of constrained resources and environmental instability. The coming months will likely see increased scrutiny on how governments and private stakeholders respond to this call, as the window to preserve these vital cultural touchstones continues to narrow.