Decision 42 COM 7B.24

Historical Monuments of Mtskheta (Georgia) (C 708bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.44, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Acknowledges the efforts made by the State Party to implement the recommendations made with regard to the Mtskheta Urban Land Use Master Plan (ULUMP), and encourages the State Party to further enhance the participatory process and involvement of the municipality and civil society in the development of the ULUMP, and to improve coordinated inter-ministerial and institutional decision-making processes regarding the protection of the World Heritage property;
4. Endorses the recommendations of the final Activity Report of the UNESCO Advisory service to Georgia developed within the framework of the agreement signed between the State Party and UNESCO, and financially supported by the World Bank (UNESCO/Georgia Agreement), as well as the recommendations of the 2018 Reactive Monitoring mission to the property, and invites the State Party to implement these recommendations, and in particular concerning the Svetichkhoveli Cathedral, the Javary Monastery, Samtavro Nunnery and Samtavro Valley;
5. Requests the State Party to maintain the moratorium on Urban Development and Land Privatization in the Cultural Heritage Protection Zones of Mtskheta until the urban planning documentation has been adopted, and control and monitoring is fully in place;
6. Recalls its request to the State Party to submit, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, detailed information on any proposed development projects within the property, its buffer zone and setting for review by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies prior to any decisions being taken that could be difficult to reverse;
7. Strongly urges the State Party to undertake a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for developments within the property and its buffer zone as a timely and appropriate method of assessing the multiple and cumulative impacts of current and planned developments, taking into account potential impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, in conformity with the ICOMOS Guidelines on HIAs for Cultural World Heritage properties, prior to allowing any developments to take place and prior to the finalization and implementation of the ULUMP;
8. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, 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 44th session in 2020.