Decision 40 COM 7B.87

Keoladeo National Park (India) (N 340)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.66, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. Welcomes the issuance of a draft notification declaring a 500 metre strip of eco-senstivie zone around the property boundary in order to regulate developments in the immediate vicinity of the property, and requests the State Party to ensure that a full stakeholder consultation process is held prior to finalizing the notification, and during the development of the Zonal Master Plan that is expected to follow the publication in the Official Gazette of the final notification;
4. Notes with utmost concern that the provision of water to the property remains insufficient to guarantee adequate water flows, recalling that at least 550 million cubic feet (mcft) was recommended by the 2008 mission to sustain the property’s wetland values, and strongly urges the State Party to increase the water flow through the Govardhan Drain and to ensure annual releases of water from Panchana Dam in order to augment the water supply to the property;
5. Reiterates its request to the State Party to provide clear and accurate data and analyses of bird counts, including detailed information on methodologies used, in order to demonstrate the sustained recovery of bird populations;
6. Appreciates the operation undertaken to remove invasive African sharptooth catfish from selected areas of the property, and also requests the State Party to develop an adaptive invasive species control and eradication strategy, including for Water Hyacinth and Prosopis juliflora to be integrated into the revised management plan;
7. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to submit an electronic and three printed copies of the draft revised management plan to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN;
8. Further requests 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.