Decision 45 COM 8B.70

Minor boundary modifications - Ancient City of Nessebar, Bulgaria

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC/23/45.COM/8B and WHC/23/45.COM/INF.8B1,
2. Approves the proposed minor modification to the boundary of the Ancient City of Nessebar, Bulgaria;
3. Recommends the State Party to give consideration to the following:
   1. Formally proposing a minor boundary modification for the buffer zone of the property, in response to the recommendations provided by ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre in 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018,
   2. Completing the Conservation and Management Plan for the Ancient City of Nessebar, and considering the underwater archaeological vestiges in all areas of management and planning by making provisions for specific regimes for conservation, management, sustainable development, and monitoring of this heritage,
   3. Reinforcing and expanding the research programme for the underwater cultural heritage of the Ancient City of Nessebar as an integral part of developing the national inventory,
   4. Considering underwater cultural heritage values as part of heritage impact assessment of any new development along the coastline,
   5. Launching a feasibility study on the underwater archaeological sites to explore how to make them accessible to the public through maritime archaeological routes and pursuing other interpretation initiatives,
   6. Establishing a capacity‐building programme in cooperation with UNESCO and its partners to improve the identification, evaluation, research and protection of underwater cultural heritage,
   7. Not undertaking any intervention on the seabed that may affect underwater archaeological vestiges and controlling navigation around the peninsula,
   8. Considering, in the long-term, relocation of the Nessebar Port Terminal and the Marina Nessebar facilities outside of the peninsula;
4. Requests the State Party to submit a revised map at the appropriate scale, showing the boundary of the property as approved following this minor boundary modification request, and the buffer zone as clarified in 2008.