Decision 43 COM 7B.108

Aapravasi Ghat (Mauritius) (C 1227)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.98, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. Notes the State Party’s notification of large development and infrastructural projects in the buffer zone of the property;
4. Acknowledges the State Party’s commendable implementation of the recommendations of the 2018 Advisory mission in relation to four development projects, and requests the State Party to implement the remaining recommendations;
5. Also requests the State Party to:
   1. Develop a Master Plan on the precinct level, integrating all these development projects, assess this Plan through independent Heritage Impact and Visual Impact Assessment processes, and submit it to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies,
   2. Subsequently assess the individual development projects, taking into account their collective cumulative impacts, through independent Heritage Impact and Visual Impact Assessments, and submit these for review by the Advisory Bodies before implementation of the reported development projects;
6. Further requests the State Party to
   1. Ensure that the review of the 2013-2018 Management Plan is completed with urgency and that an updated Management Plan is submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies,
   2. Develop and implement well-defined and mandatory stakeholder participation processes for the property and its buffer zone when developing projects and other activities that could affect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property,
   3. Undertake archival and archaeological investigation in the Parc à Boulets to ascertain if this area contains attributes that have significance in relation to the OUV of the property;
7. 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.