Decision 38 COM 7B.40

Churches of Chiloé (Chile) (C 971)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.94, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Acknowledges the significant efforts made by the State Party and the Foundation Friends of the Churches of Chiloé (FUNDAICH) for the conservation of the churches of Chiloé;
4. Notes the result of the 2013 World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to the property and endorses its recommendations;
5. Encourages the State Party to strengthen the National Monuments Council (CMN) and to enhance its joint work with other administrative levels and sectors of the property;
6. Urges the State Party to finalize the legal definition of buffer zones and visually sensitive areas around each component part and establish the appropriate legislative measures to ensure the overall protection of the property;
7. Invites the State Party to submit by 1 February 2015, according to paragraphs 163-165 of the Operational Guidelines, the final proposal for the buffer zones of each component part of the property as a minor boundary modification for review by the World Heritage Committee;
8. Requests the State Party to:
   1. Review all existing Urban Master Plans in the light of the characteristics defined in the final proposal of buffer zones and new regulatory measures designed for the protection of the settings of the Churches of Chiloe,
   2. Establish Urban Master Plans and clear building parameters and restrictions for all the municipalities that do not include these planning tools in their management framework,
   3. Establish rural management frameworks, including the characteristics defined in the final proposal of buffer zones for the Churches of Chiloe located in rural areas, to better manage and protect all component parts of the property;
9. Also requests the State Party to establish an Integrated Management Plan for all sixteen churches inscribed in the serial property, with emphasis in a mutual cooperation among the different communities, to ensure the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property;
10. Notes with concern that the construction of Castro shopping mall has been completed and that no measures have been considered to mitigate its impact on the Castro Church;
11. Reiterates its requests to the State Party to develop measures to mitigate the impact of the Castro shopping mall on the visual characteristics and setting of the Castro church to better integrate it with the existing setting;
12. Further requests the State Party to submit a Study of Traffic Impact for the Castro shopping mall on the urban tissue of the City of Castro by 1 February 2015;
13. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015, a report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015, with a view to considering, if the absence of the implementation of the above-mentioned actions is noted by the Committee at its 39th session in 2015, the potential inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.