TARA nominated the Mathendous site in Southern Libya ("Fighting Cats") to the World Monuments Fund, to be listed on the 2008 World Monuments Watch List. The nomination, endorsed by the Department of Antiquities in Tripoli, was successful and the site is now among the 100 sites listed for 2008.

This is the second time that TARA has successfully applied for a major African rock art site to be put on the World Monuments Fund Watchlist, the first being the Dabous Giraffe, Niger, in 2000 - the first time that rock art had ever been listed. The site went on to be used for various publicity materials for the World Monuments Watch in 2000.

The 2008 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites was announced on 6th June by Bonnie Burnham, president of the World Monuments Fund (WMF), the nonprofit organization that, for more than 40 years, has helped save hundreds of endangered architectural and cultural sites around the world. This year's list highlights three critical man-made threats: political conflict, unchecked urban and industrial development, and, for the first time, global climate change. Announced every two years, the WMF Watch List acts as a call to action, drawing international public attention to threatened cultural heritage sites across the globe. The Watch List is assembled by an international panel of experts in archaeology, architecture, art history, and preservation. For many historic sites, inclusion on the List is the best, and sometimes the only, hope for survival.

The 2008 Watch List clearly shows that human activity has become the greatest threat of all to the world's cultural heritage, causing irreparable harm to many of the important places in the world that provide unique access to shared human history. Pollution eats away at ancient stones. The rapid rise in global tourism is bringing more and more people to fragile and often unprotected places. Cities and suburbs are spreading unchecked, at the expense of historic landscapes and buildings. Political discord and armed conflict are not only wreaking havoc on sites directly-with modern weapons more destructive than ever-but are destroying communities, leaving the world's cultural heritage open to neglect, vandalism, and looting. And, perhaps most daunting of all, the destructive effects of global climate change are already clearly apparent. The 2008 Watch List includes several sites that are threatened right now by flooding, encroaching desert, and changing weather patterns. Sadly, future lists will bring many more.

"The World Monuments Watch List is our best indicator of the pressures that face the field of heritage preservation," said World Monuments Fund President Bonnie Burnham. "On this list, man is indeed the real enemy. But, just as we caused the damage in the first place, we have the power to repair it, by taking our responsibility as caretakers of the world's cultural heritage seriously. So today we are sounding the alarm, using the World Monuments Watch List to demonstrate, through the vivid examples of beloved places around the world, the importance of working together to meet these challenges and join forces to protect our world's shared architectural heritage."

Since 1996, WMF has made more than 500 grants totalling more than US $47 million to 214 Watch sites in 74 countries. These funds have leveraged more than US $124 million from other sources as a result of the momentum created by inclusion of sites on the Watch List. WMF raises funds from foundations, private donors, and corporations to support the Watch and the effort to save sites on the Watch List. WMF is committed to preventing these sites from disappearing and counts on the support of its donors and the many international and local experts in the field of preservation to carry out its work.

For more information on the Watch.

For the full Press Release, complete List of the 100 sites for 2008, Photo Gallery, Panellist bios and more, click here.

Media Inquiries: Holly Evarts
Director of Public Relations
+1-646-424-9594

All photos © 1998 David Coulson/TARA