Decision 43 COM 7B.27

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mexico) (N 1290)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.16, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Welcomes the ongoing efforts by the State Party to address threats to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, including illegal logging, and requests the State Party to ensure that these efforts are sustained, including through provision of the necessary resources to the agencies involved;
4. Notes that no updated information has been provided by the State Party regarding the proposed Proyecto Angangueo mining project in the buffer zone and that, despite assurances that the project remains prohibited, continuing discussion on reopening the mine contributes to uncertainty, and therefore also requests the State Party to provide comprehensive, updated and unequivocal information on the current situation regarding mining concessions within the property and its buffer zone;
5. Urges the State Party to implement the recommendation of the 2018 mission to ensure, in line with the Committee’s established position, that no mining activities are permitted within the property and by developing strict regulations for any mining activities within the buffer zone of the property to avoid negative impacts on the property’s OUV, through revision of the property’s Management Programme and other relevant legislative instruments;
6. Also welcomes the ongoing trinational cooperation between the States Parties of Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, whilst emphasizing that the long-term conservation of the property’s OUV will depend on the capacity to address threats throughout the entire migration route of the Monarch butterfly, and further requests the three States Parties to accelerate actions aimed at minimizing threats to the Monarch butterfly migration route;
7. Also notes that several colonies continue to be observed outside the property, and given their susceptibility to other factors, including climate change, encourages the State Party to consider developing a proposal for an extension of the property in order to ensure that the majority of the areas occupied by overwintering colonies are properly protected, and to increase the potential of the property to adapt to changing climatic conditions and associated changes in the distribution of overwintering colonies;
8. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2020, 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 45th session in 2021.