Decision 45 COM 7B.91

Pirin National Park (Bulgaria) (N 225bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examinedDocument WHC/23/45.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7B.101 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
3. Urges the State Party to expedite the development of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to inform the new draft Management Plan, including a specific assessment of the proposed management objectives and zoning to ensure that it adequately considers and reflects the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, including potential impacts of development in areas located within the buffer zone, in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context;
4. Reiterates its request to the State Party to develop the new draft Management Plan through public consultation with relevant stakeholders, including NGOs, to comprehensively address the threats identified by the 2018 IUCN Advisory mission, and to specify how the management priorities will help to maintain the OUV of the property, including the protection of its integrity, and to submit the draft Management Plan to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN, prior to its adoption;
5. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to ensure that, in accordance with the Operational Guidelines, any new project within the property, its buffer zone or its wider setting, which may have an impact on the OUV of the property, is reported to the World Heritage Centre, and that its potential impact is assessed in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, before making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse;
6. Urges again the State Party to develop a long-term strategic approach to all plans and programmes for the property, its buffer zone and wider setting, which is agreed among all relevant stakeholders, including municipalities, and which ensures that any potential future development is harmonized, coordinated and consistent with regulations protecting the property’s OUV, including its integrity, and with the Operational Guidelines;
7. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2024, 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 47th session.