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ABOUT US
Mission Statement
The Landmarks Foundation was founded in 1997 to conserve sacred sites and landscapes around the world. Whether locations are in current use today or relics left by vanished ancestors, these sacred places are tangible and sometimes intangible focal points for the beliefs, rituals and religions that define human societies.
These structures and integral natural settings are threatened by economic expansion, desecration, pollution and neglect as well as by natural disasters and erosion. Just like the natural world, mankind's spiritual heritage is in need of dedicated protection.
Established as a tax-exempt organization, The Landmarks Foundation directs funding and technical expertise to local groups that cannot protect their sacred cultural heritage without assistance. Selection of specific projects is based on cultural significance and degree of jeopardy.
Advisory Board
Gustavo Araoz
Director, US/ICOMOS
International Committee on Monuments and Sites
Washington, DC
Verkin Arioba
Director, Historical Heritage Protection Foundation - Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey
Humberto Fernandez Borja
President, Conservacion Humana, A.C.
Mexico City, Mexico
Isabel Rigol Savio
Director of Natural Conservation,
Restoration Center of Cuba
Havana, Cuba
Frank G. Matero
Chairman, Program in Historic Preservation
Director, Architectural Conservation Laboratory
University of Pennsylvania
Rajeev Sethi
Founder - Trustee, Asian Heritage Foundation
New Delhi, India
Hanne Strong
Founder, The Manitou Foundation
Crestone, Colorado
Melania Ortiz Volivo
Former Director, Museo Nacional de Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa Rica
A word about our logo
Designer Mary McFadden is continuing her family’s tradition of helping the Landmarks Foundation Protect Sacred Sites Globally. She is the niece of Emily Staempfli, who donated the funds to bring the Easter Island Statue to New York in memory of Mary’s father and uncle. She donated her time to design our logo. The logo is a diagram of Plato’s idea of the union of irreconcilable opposites: the square contained in a circle. The outer circle contains the square, the inner circle is contained within it and the intermediary circle has a circumference equal to the perimeter of the square measured around its four sides. This is the symbol of Plato’s conception of the perfect temple or city, which is both a plan of the universe and a model of each of its inhabitants. Not surprisingly, it is also the layout of ancient Meso-American city-states and so Mary has superimposed the image of the Sacred Temple of Palenque.