Decision 41 COM 7B.78

Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur (Egypt) (C 86)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.22, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Welcomes the engagement of the State Party with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in the development of proposals for a Cairo Ring Road tunnel across the Giza Plateau, and takes note the two Advisory missions that have been invited by the State Party and which were undertaken in 2015 and early 2017;
4. Notes that the planned Ring Road of 1995 had been partially constructed across a 5km stretch of the Giza Plateau, impacting adversely on the landscape and that the abandoned road has facilitated dumping, waste incineration, and large-scale sand extraction;
5. Also notes the recommendation of the joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Advisory Mission that, in advance of developing a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for the proposed Ring road tunnel, the State Party should develop, as effectively as possible, three technical reports on traffic management, archaeology and design details, and submit these to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
6. Takes also note of the submission by the State Party, of, the requested technical reports on traffic management and design details, and notes furthermore that the State Party is currently working on the archaeological remote sensing survey and research of the area potentially impacted by the proposed tunnel;
7. Requests the State Party to submit an HIA for the proposed tunnel scheme based on the combined technical reports for subsequent review by the Advisory Bodies;
8. Also requests that work for the construction of the tunnel should only be progressed once all the requested technical reports and the subsequent HIA have been positively evaluated by the Advisory Bodies and any appropriate mitigation measures and procedures for monitoring have been agreed;
9. Further requests the State Party to strengthen the protection and management of the property and encourages it to:
   1. Finalize a single enforceable Management Plan for the property as a priority, based on the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value to be approved,
   2. Reinforce the overall co-ordination and management of the World Heritage property, and reinforce the management and conservation of the property by the Ministry of Antiquities,
   3. Investigate national legislation specific to World Heritage properties,
   4. Define a buffer zone and submit a Minor Boundary Modification request accordingly;
10. Urges the State Party to stop immediately illegal activities in the property associated with dumping, waste incineration and sand extraction, and all encroachment, including through physical barriers and boundary' protection, as well as proactive enforcement mechanisms, and to activate immediate measures, as highlighted by previous missions, for the removal of illegally dumped fill material from the World Heritage property and for the necessary repair and reinstatement of the landscape;
11. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2018, 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.