Decision 26 COM 21A.4

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (India)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Notes with concern the continuing threats posed by insurgency and its impacts on the state of conservation of the site, particularly in its Eastern and the Western Ranges but also acknowledges several favourable conservation trends including: finalization of the management plan that is awaiting State Government approval, progressive reconstruction of camps and guard posts and increasing staff ability to carry out on-site management actions;

2. Invites the Government of India and the State Government of Assam to investigate the possibilities of including the state of conservation of Manas as an agenda item in on-going discussions and dialogues with the militant and rebel leaders, and as part of appropriate bilateral talks between India and Bhutan;

3. Notes with satisfaction that the cordial working relations between staff of the Manas World Heritage area and their counterparts in the Royal Manas National Park of Bhutan are helpful in the conservation of the site;

4. Notes with satisfaction that the Government has included Manas as part of the Project Elephant and is facilitating the work of economic development committees to improve participatory planning and rural development projects;

5. Invites the Centre and IUCN to co-operate with the State Party to find ways and means of financing a number of projects prepared by the site Director and the feasibility of using the trust fund established by the State Government of Assam as a financing mechanism for attracting resources from international and national donors;

6. Invites the State Party to consider inviting another UNESCO/IUCN mission, within the next four years, to review progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the IUCN mission undertaken in February 2002;