Decision 45 COM 7B.85

Western Tien-Shan (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan) (N 1490)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add.2,
2. Recalling Decisions 42 COM 7B.69 and 44 COM 7B.95 adopted at its 42nd (Manama, 2018) and extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) sessions respectively,
3. Welcomes the establishment of the joint Regional Committee for the management of the property, and requests the States Parties to continue collaboration towards the joint management of the property, in particular to develop the transboundary integrated management plan for the property;
4. Expresses again its utmost concern at the excision of a substantial part of Sayram-Ugam National Nature Park in Kazakhstan from the property and its subsequent inclusion in the buffer zone, as these significant changes introduced to the zoning and protection regime of this protected area could affect the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), including its conditions of integrity, and recalling that the removal of the legal protection of a property may constitute potential danger to the property in line with Paragraph 180(b) (i) of the Operational Guidelines, also requests the State Party of Kazakhstan to provide further information on this boundary change at the national level, including detailed information on the legal protection status of the part which was moved to the buffer zone;
5. Further requests the State Party of Uzbekistan to provide detailed information on the protection regime of the Bashkyzylsay and Maidantal components, including any changes from the time of inscription and how the governance arrangements, and corresponding management measures, ensure the effective protection of the OUV;
6. Reiterates its request to the States Parties to review and rationalize the boundaries of the components of the property and their buffer zones to ensure that they fully correspond to criterion (x), follow ecological principles and address connectivity, exclude areas originally included for their paleontological values while also considering the potential to meet criterion (ix), and to develop, as a matter of priority, a joint proposal for a significant boundary modification, in accordance with Paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines;
7. Also reiterates its requests to the States Parties to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to assess the changes in the management regime of the above-mentioned components of the property in the Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve and Ugam-Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve in Uzbekistan and the Sayram-Ugam National Nature Park in Kazakhstan, to evaluate whether these changes represent a potential danger to the property’s OUV and integrity and to verify whether any new threats to the components in Kyrgyzstan have emerged since inscription;
8. Finally requests the States Parties to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2024, an updated joint 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.