Decision 39 COM 7B.35

Tasmanian Wilderness (Australia) (C/N 181quinquies)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 36 COM 7B.36, 37 COM 8B.44, and 38 COM 8B.47, adopted at its 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) and 38th (Doha, 2014) sessions respectively;
3. Expresses its concern that substantial progress has not yet been made on the survey of cultural attributes requested since 2013, and that its completion is not foreseen until 2018, and urges the State Party to ensure this work is undertaken as soon as possible, and submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by ICOMOS;
4. Reiterates its request to the State Party to:
   1. Undertake further study and consultation with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community in order to provide more detailed information on the cultural value of the property and how these relate to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV),
   2. Provide detailed information on the legal provisions for the protection of cultural heritage in the extended property,
   3. Provide detailed information on the management arrangements for cultural heritage and, in particular, for the control of access to archaeological sites and sites of cultural significance;
5. Also urges the State Party to review the proposed new management plan for the property to ensure that it provides adequate protection for its OUV, including:
   1. Recognition of wilderness character of the property as one of its key values and as being fundamental for its management,
   2. Recognition of the cultural attributes of OUV, as also fundamental for its management,
   3. Establishment of strict criteria for new tourism development within the property which would be in line with the primary goal of protecting the property’s OUV, including its wilderness character and cultural attributes;
6. Further urges the State Party to ensure that commercial logging and mining are not permitted within the entire property, and that all areas of public lands within the property’s boundaries, including Regional Reserves, Conservation Areas and Future Potential Production Forest Lands, have a status that ensures adequate protection of the OUV of the property;
7. Requests the State Party to secure adequate funding for the management of the property, taking into consideration the extension of the property as approved by the Committee at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013);
8. Takes note of the proposed retrospective Statement of OUV (SOUV) that has been submitted by the State Party, and also requests the State Party to include additional information in the Statement, to ensure that it reflects accurately the cultural attributes of the property, and further requests the State Party to resubmit a revised draft of the retrospective SOUV to the World Heritage Centre for review, as soon as possible;
9. Requests furthermore the State Party to invite a joint IUCN/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property in order to review and provide advice for the revision of the management plan, prior to any decision to finalise the plan, on the survey of cultural attributes and on the re-drafting of the retrospective SOUV, and also to assess the state of conservation of the property as a whole;  
10. Finally requests 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, and including an electronic and three printed copies of a revised draft management plan that is considered to adequately protect the OUV of the property, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.