Every two years since 1996 global heritage experts World Monuments Fund (WMF) releases its list of the world's most endangered historic places - sites jeopardised by natural disasters, insufficient funding, uncontrolled tourism and overdevelopment.

The fund's World Monuments Watch is intended to rise international awareness about "cultural heritage around the globe that is at risk from the forces of nature and the impact of social, political, and economic change," according to their website.

Since its launch, the list has featured 688 sites in 132 countries. This year the fund has flagged 67 endangered buildings, districts, and cities, including the famous Lines and Geoglyphs of Nazca, Peru, a ruined cathedral in Coventry, England, a Turkish train station, and a colony of floating fishermen's villages in Vietnam.

The case of the geometric designs in southern Peru, known as the Lines of Nazca, is particularly relevant for being among the world's most iconic and enigmatic attractions. The drawings, made between 500BC and 500AD, depict giant monkeys, spiders, birds and plants. They are visible only from high above and they cover an area of more than 175 square miles along low foothills and desert.

Now the WMF believes the archaeological wonders are being jeopardised by tourism activities including private flights over the sites and intrusive viewing platforms, as well as by potential flooding from El Niño.

2012's list is not only compiled of ancient sites but also includes modern architecture. That is the case of three British Brutalist landmarks such as a bus station in Preston, the Birmingham Central Library and London's South Bank Centre.

Ten more sites under threat are:

• First Cemetery of Athens
• Royal Opera House, Mumbai
• Saint Helena
• Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight
• Fishing villages of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
• Gingerbread House, Haiti
• The town of Trujillo, located in Spain's Extremadura region
• Oshki Monastery, Turkey
• Nanyue Kingdom Palace Site, China
• 510 Fifth Avenue, New York

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