Decision 44 COM 7B.53

Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and its Underground Water Management System (Poland) (C 1539)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 8B.25, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Takes note of the progress made by the State Party in implementing its recommendations;
4. Welcomes the proposal for an inventory of the underground heritage elements of the property and invites the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre a plan and a timeframe for such an inventory;
5. Requests the State Party to finalize and implement the legal protection at the national level of all above-ground structures within the boundaries of the property and its buffer zone that support the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and to provide to the World Heritage Centre an inventory of those structures that are not yet protected;
6. Also requests the State Party to provide to the World Heritage Centre further information with regard to the mechanisms in place to ensure that water extraction at Adolph Shaft will not have negative impacts on the property, including by obtaining an explicit commitment from the Upper Silesian Water Supply Company not to harm the OUV of the property and its attributes, particularly the underground water chambers, in their operations;
7. Reiterates its request to the State Party to develop an archaeological investigation programme with a focus on the underground element of phase I, to the extent possible, and of phase II, with a particular focus on the mining landscape;
8. Further requests the State Party to finalize expeditiously and submit all necessary documentation for the addition to the property of the historic water tower immediately adjacent to Kaehler Shaft, and to conclude the feasibility analysis considering the extension of area A5 to join area A4;
9. Encourages the State Party to set up expeditiously the multidisciplinary scientific Committee as an advisory body to the Steering Committee, to assist in scientific research programmes;
10. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, 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 46th session.