Decision 45 COM 7B.71

Canaima National Park (Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)) (N 701)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7B.199 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou /online, 2021),
3. Notes with appreciation the reported increase in the number of firefighters and rangers, as well as information on the surveillance of the property;
4. Notes with concern that it remains unclear whether the planned and existing mining operations within the National Strategic Development Zone “Arco Minero del Orinoco” (ZDENAMO) rights areas close to the property have been subject to impact assessments which fully assess the potential impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, and requests the State Party to submit the territorial analysis and status of mining projects in this area to the World Heritage Centre, and to ensure that all proposed mining projects which could potentially impact on the OUV of the property are assessed in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, prior to taking any decision that would be difficult to reverse;
5. Also requests the State Party to provide further information ahead of the requested Reactive Monitoring mission on the current extent and status of any illegal mining activities in the property to the World Heritage Centre;
6. Regrets that the State Party did not issue a new invitation for the Reactive Monitoring mission after its postponement for weather conditions and reiterates its request to the State Party to invite without further delay a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to:
   1. Assess, including through on-the-ground visits where feasible, the degree to which the property’s OUV, including its integrity, might have been affected by illegal mining activities,
   2. Review the planned and ongoing legal mining activities in the parts of ZDENAMO located in the vicinity to the northern border of the property and assess whether they might result in any potential negative impacts on the OUV of the property and provide advice to the State Party in ensuring that assessment of possible impacts on the OUV of the property is integrated into existing national regulations for mining;
7. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to submit an official proposal for clarification of boundaries of the property within the framework of the Retrospective Inventory, according to Paragraphs 163-165 of the Operational Guidelines concerning Minor Boundary Modifications;
8. Further 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.