Case Law

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 39 COM 7B.6, adopted at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015),
3. Expresses its sincere condolences to the State Party and the inhabitants of Socotra for the damages and loss of life caused by the passage of cyclones Chapala and Megh, which ravaged the island in November 2015;
4. Commends the State Party for the progress achieved with the implementation of the 2012 mission recommendations, despite the challenges resulting from the current security situation in mainland Yemen, and welcomes in particular the appointment of a Deputy Governor for Environment and Development, the initiatives taken to strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in the management of the property, and the ongoing consideration of a policy to cancel all previous decisions to expand main access roads within the property;
5. Also welcomes the support provided by international donors and partners for the conservation of the archipelago’s biodiversity and the sustainable development of its communities;
6. Reiterates its significant concern over the increased vulnerability of the property due to the security situation in mainland Yemen, considers that the impacts of the recent cyclones are likely to have further increased the property’s vulnerability to pressures from unsustainable resource use, soil erosion and habitat degradation, notes that these impacts require further and urgent assessment, and calls on the international community to support Yemen in implementing the actions identified in the Needs Assessment for Socotra Archipelago World Heritage site, developed in February 2016, at the workshop hosted by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH);
7. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess its state of conservation, in particular in view of the impacts from wood cutting, overgrazing, unsustainable use of marine and terrestrial resources, and the impacts from the cyclones, and to support the State Party in identifying priorities for rehabilitation and management activities;
8. Encourages the State Party to hire, as soon as it is feasible to do so, a professional specialized company to assess the possibilities of and risks involved in salvaging the two ships grounded inside the property near Haulafe and take appropriate measures to restore any damages caused by their grounding;
9. Urges the State Party to promote the revival of traditional land management practices including seasonal transhumance in an effort to reduce threats from soil erosion and habitat degradation as a result of overgrazing, and to ensure the enforcement of the archipelago’s protected area regulations and its zoning plan, in order to address threats from unsustainable resource use both in the terrestrial and marine environments;
10. Further requests the State Party to continue its efforts to implement all recommendations of the 2012 mission;
11. Requests moreover the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2017, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 36 COM 8B.26, adopted at its 36th session (Saint-Petersburg, 2012),
3. Acknowledges the information provided by the State Party on actions taken for the management of the property since June 2012;
4. Notes with concern that the vulnerabilities of the cultural landscape that were acknowledged at the time of inscription, and the need to support the traditional practices of the subak communities through their engagement in the management of the property, have not been addressed clearly;
5. Regrets that the laudable governance structures and Management Plan developed with the nomination have not been fully put in place and implemented, and that incentives and subsidies to support prosperous rural livelihoods and strong subak institutions, and land use regulations to prohibit inappropriate development within the property, have so far not been delivered as envisaged;
6. Urges the State Party to operationalise the Governing Assembly which incorporates the traditional practices underpinning the property as envisaged in the Decree of 2010, as soon as possible, and include in its membership representatives of the subak communities;
7. Also urges the State Party to allow the Governing Assembly to implement the approved Management Plan, as set out at the time of inscription, in order that the various multi-disciplinary Action Plans based on agreed Strategic Priorities can be delivered;
8. Requests the State Party to consider how the various commitments for protection and management made at the time of inscription and approved by the Committee in the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value might be put into practice as soon as possible;
9. In the light of the high potential vulnerability of the subak landscape, encourages the State Party to invite an ICOMOS/ICCROM advisory mission to the property, to be financed by the State Party, in order to consider how progress can be made in putting the management of the property on firm basis that will allow a sustainable future for the subak communities;
10. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/7B,

2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 7B.8, adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008),

3. Commends the State Party for the progress made in addressing land tenure issues by integrating pastoral lands into the buffer zone, thereby enlarging it and increasing the protection of the property, and notes the steps taken to support traditional Aboriginal communities within this buffer zone;

4. Encourages the State Party to develop an interim management plan, in order to give due consideration to the property's indigenous cultural values while the native title case is ongoing, and to address traditional landowners' concerns, by considering potential stricter regulations on tourism access to culturally significant sites;

5. Also notes that there are a number of threats, including fire, feral cattle and invasive species, that could potentially impact wilderness values that are relevant to the property's Outstanding Universal Value in relation to criterion (vii), and requests the State Party to address these issues by continuing the application of prescribed fires to reduce hot fires at the end of the dry season, continuing to actively reduce the population of feral cattle, and collaborating with NGOs to explore and enhance invasive species response strategies;

6. Further requests the State Party to ensure that all mining operations adjacent to the property should be subject to the highest standards of environmental impact assessment, including consideration of the likely impacts of these activities on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property;

7. Also requests the State Party to keep the World Heritage Centre informed on the progress made in implementing the above.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-08/32.COM/7B.Add,

2. Recalling Decision 31 COM 7B.43, adopted at its 31st session (Christchurch, 2007),

3. Takes note of the findings of the recent World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS / IUCN monitoring mission to the property, and requests the State Party to:

a) institute a mechanism through the future Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) management plan reviews, and involving all relevant stakeholders, to monitor, assess and manage the ecological integrity of the TWWHA and adjoining reserves by considering activities related to forestry operations, road construction and regeneration fires in the areas adjacent to the property;

b) submit a proposal for modifying the boundaries of the TWWHA to include the adjacent 21 areas of national parks and state reserves, which are currently not a part of the inscribed World Heritage property but are covered by its management plan;

c) not to renew the existing leases for mineral exploration and exploitation within the property and immediately adjacent to it (such as in the Melaleuca Cox Bight area), after their expiry and to rehabilitate the areas concerned and to incorporate them into the World Heritage property. Further, no new mining licenses should be granted within the property or in the areas which are being recommended for addition;

d) maintain and improve the resourcing for the research, documentation, protection, monitoring and effective management for archaeological and Aboriginal cultural sites both those within the TWWHA and those in the adjacent forestry areas that reflect the wider context of Aboriginal land-use practices and are of potential Outstanding Universal Value;

e) manage the forestry areas outside the inscribed property in order to protect cultural sites of potential Outstanding Universal Value;

f) ensure logging roads in areas adjacent to the TWWHA consider the ecological integrity, possible cultural sites and aesthetic values of the property, and reclaim roads no longer required;

g) prepare and implement a vegetation management plan covering the TWWHA and the adjoining forest reserves jointly by national parks and the forestry authorities, to address representativity of vegetation types and to reduce risks, particularly from fires and climate change;

h) implement the recommendations emanating from the recently completed 2008 review of the Tasmania Regional Forest Agreement;

i) establish an active programme for monitoring the impacts of climate change on the property and incorporate this programme into a risk-reduction strategy and action plan;

4. Also requests the State Party to revise the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for the property to include relevant recent natural and cultural knowledge available regarding the site, for approval by the World Heritage Committee;

5. Reiterates its request to the State Party to consider, at its own discretion, extension of the property to include appropriate areas of tall eucalyptus forest, having regard to the advice of IUCN; and also further requests the State Party to consider, at its own discretion, extension of the property to include appropriate cultural sites reflecting the wider context of Aboriginal land-use practices, and the possibility of re-nominating the property as a cultural landscape;

6. Requests moreover the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2010, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property, including a revised Statement of Outstanding Universal Value and progress related to the above mentioned issues, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session in 2010.