Decision 39 COM 7B.17

Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex (Thailand) (N 590rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.71, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. Commends the State Party for its efforts to prevent and suppress illegal logging in the property, including the development of an Action Plan, welcomes the international cooperation with Cambodia, China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Viet Nam in controlling illegal logging and trade of Siamese rosewood, and encourages the State Party to continue these efforts;
4. Notes the State Party’s efforts to address encroachment and the construction of illegal resorts in the property, as well as progress achieved with the removal of illegal cattle;
5. Considers that more time is required to demonstrate whether the State Party’s efforts are achieving the desired result of eliminating rosewood poaching, and requests the State Party to provide to the World Heritage Centre comparable statistics on rosewood poaching as soon as data are available for fiscal year 2014 – 2015, and to also provide information on any poaching of other wildlife species, which often occurs in association with illegal logging;
6. Urges the State Party to further increase the allocation of resources to park rangers in the property, in order to ensure that they dispose of sufficient patrol provisions, equipment and reinforced capacity to conduct enforcement operations against heavily armed poaching groups, and also urges the State Party to ensure that maximum legal penalties are implemented in a consistent manner, in order to deter poaching;
7. Notes with concern that encroachment and the construction of illegal resorts appear to continue despite the State Party’s efforts, and that encroachment appears to be more widespread in other parts of the property than previously reported;
8. Also considers that if they persist, poaching of valuable timber and encroachment would clearly represent ascertained danger to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, in conformity with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines;
9. Also notes the on-going implementation of the Environmental Impact Mitigation Plan for Huay Samong Dam, and also welcomes the non-approval of a feasibility study for the proposed Huay Saton Dam within the property;
10. Further welcomes the State Party’s confirmation that Road 3462 will remain closed, and also requests the State Party to provide further information on the proposed development of Highway 348, including information on whether the construction of wildlife corridors is foreseen, and a copy of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which should include an assessment of potential impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, in line with IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment;
11. Further requests the State Party to ensure effective implementation and rigorous monitoring of impact mitigation measures to minimize impacts on OUV from the widening of Highway 304 and the construction of wildlife corridors, and further urges the State Party to reconsider the planned construction of tourism centres in corridor areas, in view of the potential of the resulting increased human presence to be counterproductive to the corridors’ effectiveness;
12. Recommends that the State Party collaborate with the World Heritage Centre to ensure that all tourism activities for the property are in line with the objectives of sustainable tourism management, and also encourages the State Party to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the property using the new capacity tools developed through the World Heritage Sustainable Tourism Programme to promote conservation and local community development;
13. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, 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 40th session in 2016, with a view to considering, in the case of confirmation of the ascertained or potential danger to Outstanding Universal Value, the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.