Decision 38 COM 7B.67

Lorentz National Park (Indonesia) (N 955)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.13, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Notes with appreciation the State Party’s efforts to improve the property’s management capacity, and welcomes the State Party’s commitment, as expressed during the mission, to apply the highest standards to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Habema-Kenyem road;
4. Notes with concern that despite the absence of an EIA, significant road construction has been allowed to continue until recently;
5. Requests the State Party to rigorously ensure that the current halt imposed on further road construction remains in place until the EIA has been completed, in conformity with IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment and its recommendations fully implemented, and adequate technological and managerial measures are being implemented to avoid and mitigate impacts of the road on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), including the development and implementation of an integrated monitoring mechanism to detect and respond to threats as soon as they arise;
6. Also requests the State Party to submit the completed EIA to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines ;
7. Urges the State Party to guarantee effective monitoring and strict control of the road and its impact and control of any future development pressures, related or not to the presence of the road, and considers that if this cannot be achieved, the property could meet, in the near future, the conditions for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and reiterates its request to the State Party to rigorously ensure the protection and conservation of the property’s OUV and prevent the fragmentation of the largely intact wilderness that makes up the property;
8. Further requests the State Party to urgently revise the property’s management plan and zonation scheme, in order to ensure that they adequately reflect the property’s OUV, and to provide an electronic and three printed copies of the draft revised management plan and zonation scheme to the World Heritage Centre as soon as it is available, for review by IUCN;
9. Also urges the State Party to undertake an assessment of the level of poaching in the property, and to conduct further in-depth investigations to the cause of the Nothofagus dieback disease, including an assessment of the health of all Nothofagus forests in the property as well as an action plan to address the dieback, in collaboration with international experts, as required;
10. Requests furthermore the State Party to fully implement all the recommendations of the 2014 IUCN reactive monitoring mission;
11. Reiterates its call upon the international community to support the State Party in resolving the severe constraints to the effective operation of the Park management including funding, limited monitoring and surveillance equipment, and limited staff capacity and technical expertise;
12. Requests moreover 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 and on progress achieved with the implementation of the recommendations of the 2008, 2011, and 2014 reactive monitoring missions, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015.