5. In his opening address, the representative of the Director-General, Mr Mounir Bouchenaki, Assistant Director-General for Culture, spoke of the incontestable success of the World Heritage Convention. He welcomed the Kingdom of Bhutan, Samoa and Eritrea as new signatories to the Convention. The Convention would have 167 States Parties by the end of 2001. He stated that this achievement of near universality proved that the world attached special importance to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage. 6. Mr Bouchenaki advised the General Assembly that Mr Peter King (Australia) had ...
V.51 The Bureau was informed that the total rainfall during the years 1999 and 2000 has been below average and insufficient to trigger the closing of the sluice gates at Oued Tinja, resulting in sea water flowing into the Lake. No release of water from other sources has been made in an effective manner during the years 2000 and 2001. Salinity of the Lake water has increased during this period, the composition of water birds has become dominated by salt tolerant species such as shelducks and shovelers.
V.52 At its ...
Sites: Ichkeul National Park
V.106 The Bureau recalled that at the twenty-fourth session of the World Heritage Bureau, the State Party was requested to submit a report on the grounding of a vessel in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area on 9 November 2000. The State Party transmitted a report to the Centre via letter of 19 April 2001, which was sent to IUCN for review and comments.
V.107 The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) noted that the vessel caused severe but localised damage to the Sudbury Reef. The ship ploughed a path through the reef, ...
Sites: Great Barrier Reef
V.158 The Bureau was informed that IUCN received a recent report, which again highlights the threats to the site, including lack of management, hunting and gold mining. Bystrinsky Nature Park, one of the five components of this site, continues to be the area most significantly threatened. The Park has no staff. Forest fires are reported to consume significant parts of the Park each year. The Park has been divided into 24 hunting leases, half of which are owned by large businesses outside of the region, and permitted by local authorities and not by the ...
Sites: Volcanoes of Kamchatka
V.163 The Bureau noted that no new information on the road proposal was received from the State Party. The Director of the UNESCO Office, Moscow, attended the meeting “The socio-economic development of the Altai Republic and the perspectives of the development of the transport system in the South of Siberia”, which was held on 15 to 16 December 2000 in Gorno Altaisk. He noted that awareness building must be raised among the decision-makers in the Altai Government with regard to the obligations under the World Heritage Convention. He furthermore pointed ...
Sites: Golden Mountains of Altai
V.279 The Bureau requested the Russian authorities to submit a report on the state of conservation of the site by 15 September 2001 to assess, at its twenty-fifth extraordinary session, the ways in which the Bureau may be able to collaborate with the Russian authorities to ensure proper conservation of the site.
Sites: Kizhi Pogost
V.281 The Bureau took note of information that the Secretariat had provided in the working document on the state of conservation of the following properties:
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (Bolivia)
Morne Trois Pitons National Park (Dominica)
Huascaran National Park (Peru)
Lake Baikal (Russian Federation)
Hatra (Iraq)
Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) (Japan)
Joya de Ceren Archaeological Site (El Salvador)
Cultural Landscape of Sintra (Portugal)
VIII.89 The Committee noted that the State Party had invited a UNESCO-IUCN mission to this site following the recommendation of the twenty-fourth session of the Committee. The mission took place from 25 August to 3 September 2001. IUCN and the Director of the UNESCOMoscow Office, representing the World Heritage Centre, conducted the mission. The Committee was informed that the full report of this mission was presented to the twentyfifth extraordinary session of the Bureau and that it noted in particular the series of recurrent problems and new potential threats that, according to IUCN, ...
Sites: Lake Baikal
Reports on the state of conservation of natural properties inscribed on the World Heritage List noted by the Committee
Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
Fraser Island (Australia)
The Sundarbans (Bangladesh)
Belovezhskaya Pushcha/Bialowieza Forest (Belarus/Poland)
Gros Morne National Park (Canada)
Nahanni National Park (Canada)
Los Katios National Park (Colombia)
Caves of the Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst (Hungary/Slovakia)
The Committee noted that the issues raised concern only the Slovak part of this transboundary site.
Sundarbans National Park (India)
The Delegate of ...
Sites: Banc d'Arguin National Park Białowieża Forest Canaima National Park Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst Chitwan National Park Doñana National Park Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast Golden Mountains of Altai Great Barrier Reef Great Smoky Mountains National Park Gros Morne National Park Gunung Mulu National Park Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands) K’gari (Fraser Island) Kaziranga National Park Komodo National Park Lorentz National Park Los Katíos National Park Nahanni National Park Serengeti National Park Sian Ka'an Sinharaja Forest Reserve St Kilda Sundarbans National Park The Sundarbans
Australia Bangladesh Belarus Canada Colombia Hungary India Indonesia Italy Malaysia Mauritania Mexico Nepal Poland Russian Federation Slovakia Spain Sri Lanka United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United Republic of Tanzania United States of America Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Viet Nam
VIII.86 The Committee welcomed the recommendations of IUCN, and called upon the State Party to take urgent action to halt illegal poaching in the Reserve, and requested a full report from the State Party on this situation by 1 February 2002. This report shall be submitted for consideration by the twenty-sixth session of the World Heritage Committee (June 2002), at which time it will decide on the need for a mission to the site. Furthermore, the Committee commended the chief executives of major European logging firms active in Central Africa, representatives from various conservation NGOs ...
Sites: Dja Faunal Reserve
VIII.95 The Committee noted with concern threats to the Bystrinsky Nature Park and noted conflicting reports relating to the gold mine operation and its relationship to the World Heritage boundary. The Committee requested the Centre to work in consultation with the State Party to prepare a mission to the site to review the state of conservation and to ascertain whether a case exists for inscribing this site on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Sites: Volcanoes of Kamchatka
25 COM IX.4-19
IX. Progress Report on Regional Actions for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for a Representative and Balanced World Heritage List
IX.4 Several Committee members stressed the importance of the Resolution of the General Assembly concerning the Representivity of the World Heritage List and that the substantive work on the analysis of the current World Heritage List and the tentative lists must be given top priority. New thematic studies and meetings should be carried out only upon the completion of this global analysis, and on the basis of the priorities identified for each region. A number of delegates stated that since 1994, many regional and thematic meetings have been convened, and the results of these meetings ...
25 COM X.5-6
Examination of nominations of cultural, natural, and mixed properties to the World Heritage List
X.5 The Committee noted that the following two natural properties will be examined in 2002:
Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Viet Nam)
Natural System of "Wrangel Island" Sanctuary (Russian Federation)
X.6 The Committee was informed that the Guyanese authorities have withdrawn the nomination of Kaieteur National Park and that the Italian authorities requested that the proposed extension of Crespi d'Adda not be examined by the twenty-fifth session of the World Heritage Committee. ...
Property: Lamu Old Town
Id. N°: 1055
State Party: Kenya
Criteria: C (ii) (iv) (vi)
The Committee inscribed Lamu Old Town on the World Heritage List under criteria (ii), (iv), and (vi):
Criterion (ii): The architecture and urban structure of Lamu graphically demonstrate the cultural influences that have come together there over several hundred years from Europe, Arabia, and India, utilizing traditional Swahili techniques to produce a distinct culture.
Criterion (iv): The growth and decline of the seaports on the East African coast and interaction between the Bantu, Arabs, ...
Sites: Lamu Old Town
Property: Samarkand - Crossroads of Cultures
Id. N°: 603 Rev
State Party: Uzbekistan
Criteria: C (i) (ii) (iv)
The Committee inscribed the Samarkand - Crossroads of Cultures on the World Heritage List under criteria (i), (ii), and (iv).
Criterion (i): The architecture and townscape of Samarkand, situated at the crossroads of ancient cultures, are masterpieces of Islamic cultural creativity.
Criterion (ii): Ensembles in Samarkand such as the Bibi Khanum Mosque and Registan Square played a seminal role in the development of Islamic architecture over the entire region, from the ...
Property: Central Sikhote-Alin
Id. N°: 766 Rev
State Party: Russian Federation
Criteria: N (iv)
The Committee inscribed Central Sikhote-Alin on the World Heritage List under criterion (iv):
Criterion (iv): The nominated area is representative of one of the world's most distinctive natural regions. The combination of glacial history, climate and relief has allowed the development of the richest and most unusual temperate forests in the world. Compared to other temperate ecosystems, the level of endemic plants and invertebrates present in the region is extraordinarily high which ...
Sites: Central Sikhote-Alin
25 COM X.B
Volcanoes of Kamchatka [Extension to include Kluchevskoy Nature Park] (Russian Federation)
Property: Volcanoes of Kamchatka [Extension to include Kluchevskoy Nature Park ]
Id. N°: 765 Bis
State Party: Russian Federation
Criteria: N (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
The Committee approved the extension of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka by the inclusion of the Kluchevskoy Nature Park as the sixth component. In addition to the 1996 inscription under criteria (i), (ii), and (iii), the Committee decided to inscribe the site also under criterion (iv).
Criterion (iv): The site contains an especially diverse range of palearctic flora, including a number of nationally threatened species and at ...
Sites: Volcanoes of Kamchatka
Property: The Bolgar Historical and Architectural Complex
Id. N°: 981
State Party: Russian Federation
The Committee discussed extensively the authenticity and materials used for reconstruction at the site. Several delegates questioned whether the type of early documentary evidence supplied from the 19th century would be sufficient to guarantee authenticity for the reconstruction of the Great Minaret.
A number of interventions focused on the importance of the site as historical evidence for a nomadic empire. The Committee encouraged the State Party to submit a revised nomination ...
Property: Polissian Swamps and Slovechno-Ovruch Ridge
Id. N°: 1048
State Party: Ukraine
The Committee did not inscribe the property on the World Heritage List.
XVIII.2.1 NATURAL Bahrain
Preparation of the nomination file of Hawar Islands: The Bureau approved US$30,000 for this activity, subject to the receipt of a detailed budget breakdown to be approved by the Chairperson. Furthermore, the Bureau requested the State Party to include within the activity a comparative study of the site with other coastal island protected areas in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea. IUCN suggested that the professionals implementing this activity be encouraged to participate at the February 2002 expert workshop being organized in Vietnam within the ...