14. The representative of IUCN reported on the status of three natural sites, two of which are inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, as follows:
Manu National Park (Peru): A commercial discovery of natural gas had beenmade next to the park and further exploration work was imminent. This work would bring in many workers and settlers next to the western boundary of the park and could result in encroachments and associated problems. The Bureau requested the Secretariat to contact the Peruvian authorities and to seek* further explanation.
Djoudj National Park (Senegal): The ...
16. The Permanent Delegate of Iran to Unesco made a statement regarding the damages incurred by the Meidan Emam (Meidan Nagh Cheh Jahan) at Isphahan which was hit by a rocket during the recent attacks on Iranian cities. In the Permanent Delegate's opinion, the Meidan Emam should be considered for the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Sites: Meidan Emam, Esfahan
18. The Bureau examined document SC-88/CONF.007/9 presenting requests for technical cooperation and training under the World Heritage Fund.
19. The following requests were approved by the Bureau:
1. Consultancy services for the preparation of a plan for Royal Chitwan National Park (Nepal) and purchase of equipment for implementing 3 prototype projects recommended by the plan: $30,000
2. Financial contribution to the purchase of a "UNIMOG", an all-terrain vehicle, for use in field training activities at the Mweka College of African Wildlife Management (Tanzania): $30,000
3. Purchase of ...
20. The Bureau approved US$25,000 for training in Madagascar under the conditoin that the training workshop will have a special focus on the "Tsingy de Bemaraha" are nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List. The Bureau requested that this workshop be used to revise the nomination of the Tsingy de Bemaraha.
21. The Bureau recommended that the Committee approve the following requests:
1. Equipment for a visitors' centre and an all-terrain vehicle for Tassili N'Ajjer National Park (Algeria): $53,000
2. Equipment essential for better patrolling the Virunga National Park (Zaire): $40,000
3. Equipment and spare parts for a Toyota vehicle to strengthen anti-poaching measures in Garamba National Park (Zaire): $50,000
22. The Bureau recommended that the Committee be informed of other international assistance projects for these World Heritage sites, such as projects funded by the ...
23. The Bureau recommended that the Committee approve the following request, on the understanding that further details be provided on the amounts requested:
Equipment for restoring the World Heritage properties of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya (Sri Lanka) and for training activities pertaining to those sites.
24. Since ICOMOS was not yet in a position to provide accurate evaluation of the threats to the integrity of the following 2 properties, the Bureau recommended that the Committee's decision on the 2 requests be taken after further study has been carried out:
1. Urgent measures for strengthening the foundations of the wall and to study methods of reconstructing doors, windows and other wooden elements at Bahla Fort (Oman).
2. Equipment and technical assistance needed for restoration work at Wieliczka Salt Mine ...
25. With regard to a request received from Brazil, submitted on 16 June 1988 for $30,000 towards a project for the conservation and management of the Jesuit missions of the Guarani, the Bureau agreed with the Chairman's suggestion that the approve project components up to an amount of $20,000. The remaining $10,000 for the project, which would bring its value to a total of $30,000, should be requested from the Committee at its next session.
6. The Committee adopted the draft agenda of the session with two amendments, which consisted in inverting items 10, (Requests for technical co-operation), and 11 (State of accounts of the World Heritage Fund and budget for 1989), and the sequence of examination of nominations of natural and cultural properties. Furthermore, the Committee decided to examine the question of procedures for the election of Committee members under item 14, "Other business".
7. Upon the proposal of the outgoing Chairman, Mr. J.H. Collinson (Canada), Mr. A. da Silva Telles (Brazil) was elected Chairman of the Committee by acclamation. Ms. A. Miltiadou (Greece) was elected Rapporteur and the following members of the Committee were elected Vice-Chairmen: Australia, Canada, France, India, and the Yemen Arab Republic. A member of the Committee stressed that the composition of the Bureau did not reflect a geographical balance and was due to peculiar circumstances since representatives of certain geographical regions were not present at this session of the ...
8. The Secretary for the session, Ms. J. Robertson Vernhes, recalled the role of the Secretariat of the World Heritage Committee, concerning the processing of the nominations to the World Heritage List, the implementation of the decisions of the Committee concerning projects financed under the World Heritage Fund, as well as the promotional activities aimed at making the Convention better known and at stimulating contributions to the World Heritage Fund.
9. The Committee noted that the activities undertaken by the Secretariat since its eleventh session were described in detail in the ...
12. The Chairman of the Working Group, H.E. Ananda Guruge (Sri Lanka) presented the recommendations drafted by the Working Group. He stressed how important it was that the work of the Committee be facilitated through careful preparation and submittance of nominations of cultural properties by States Members, a more active Secretariat contribution when checking files, and a selective presentation of proposals by ICOMOS and by the Bureau. He also noted the progress that could be achieved through a reorganization of the Committee's agenda. The Chairman of the Working Group clarified that ...
20. The Secretary presented document SC-88/CONF.001/3 on the revision of the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. The Committee noted that the modifications proposed in this document resulted from three different actions, namely:
changes introduced in accordance with the Committee's decisions concerning the monitoring of cultural properties, the procedure for nomination of extensions to World Heritage properties and assistance for promotional activities;
modifications required to update the Operational Guidelines to make them conform with ...
28. The Committee examined document SC-88/CONF.001/10 which arose from the difficulty which the Bureau had encountered in the examination of nominations which had an indissociable combination of cultural and natural elements.
29. The Committee recalled the inconsistency between the definitions of cultural and natural heritage in the Convention and the criteria laid out in the Operational Guidelines, particularly the fact that Article 2 defining natural heritage did not refer to cultural aspects of such heritage and yet natural criterion (iii) refers to "... areas natural beauty or ...
4) Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras)
The representative of IUCN reported that this property was currently under extreme pressure with the invasion of some 50,000 refugees and settlers into the Reserve. The Committee requested the Secretariat to contact the Honduran authorities to obtain further information and to ask them to consider inscribing this property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
1) Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania)
The Committee was glad to be informed that the conservation status of this property had greatly improved but that the Tanzanian authorities had requested that it be maintained on the List of World Heritage in Danger, particularly in view of the continued threat of poaching. The Committee agreed to maintain this property on the List of World Heritage in Danger but expressed the wish that it be removed from this List in 1989.
Sites: Ngorongoro Conservation Area
2) Djoudj National Park (Senegal)
The Committee was glad to learn that due in part to assistance provided from the Fund, the conservation status of this property had greatly improved. The Committee decided to comply with the request of the Senegalese authorities to remove this property from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
3) Tai National Park (Cote d'Ivoire)
The Committee noted that the natural values of this property had declined due to various illegal activities within the park. The Committee was, however, glad to learn of a forthcoming project financed by WWF, US-AID and possibly with a contribution from the World Heritage which could help mitigate the current situation, and requested IUCN to report back to the Committee at its next session.
Sites: Taï National Park
5) Yellowstone National Park (USA)
The Committee noted that an exceptionally large fire had occurred in the Park during 1988 but that no World Heritage values had been lost. The Committee welcomed the proposal of the representative of the USA to provide further information on the results of the review of the fire management policy for wilderness areas and the restoration/recovery plan aimed at showing visitors how Yellowstone was being "reborn".
Sites: Yellowstone National Park
12 COM X.B.34-40
Monitoring of the State of Conservation of the World Heritage Cultural Properties: General Issues
B. Cultural Properties
34. At the request of the Chairman, the Secretariat informed the Committee of its observations concerning the results at the present stage of implementation of the experimental monitoring system adopted by the Committee at its eleventh session. The attention of the Committee was drawn to the difficulties of a number of States in meeting the deadlines; a modified timetable was suggested, so as to enable both the Secretariat and ICOMOS to process replies and to report to the Bureau before reporting to the Committee. The Secretariat stated that the results obtained ...