World Heritage Centre https://whc.unesco.org?cid=305&l=en&search_session_decision=49&searchdecisions=&search_decision=&search_focalpoint=&search_theme=&search_status=&action=list&mode=rss World Heritage Centre - Committee Decisions 90 en Copyright 2024 UNESCO, World Heritage Centre Wed, 15 May 2024 21:26:06 EST UNESCO, World Heritage Centre - Decisions https://whc.unesco.org/document/logowhc.jpg https://whc.unesco.org 15 BUR VI.31-34 Wood Buffalo National Park (Canada) 31. The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its last session, expressed serious concerns regarding the infection of the remaining 3,200 bison in this Park by brucellosis and tuberculosis, as well as with logging operations. The Bureau was informed of a longer term threat to the integrity of the site caused by activities upstream along the Peace/Athabasca Rivers, which include the expansion of pulp mills, logging operations and dam construction resulting in water pollution and loss of water quality, changes in the flooding regime and the gradual drying-up of the Athabasca delta. The Bureau noted that a large surface area is no longer an adequate basis to ensure the long-term integrity of the Wood Buffalo National Park, and similar World Heritage sites such as Yellowstone (USA), Serengeti (Tanzania) and Banc d'Arguin (Mauritania), and that an ecosystem management approach taking into account activities outside of the Park would be required.

32. The Delegate of Canada informed the Bureau that the Canadian Government, in consultation with interested parties, has reviewed options for a management programme, which will be announced shortly, for diseased bison of the Wood Buffalo National Park. This programme has already ruled out large-scale slaughter of bison as a management option and is likely to rely on a combination of techniques, including quarantine and treatment and, in some cases, removal of bison from the Park. The launching of the Bison Management Programme will probably include a statement acknowledging the principle of preserving the ecological/environmental integrity of the Park. The Delegate of Canada also informed the Bureau that the Canadian Government is now strictly enforcing forestry regulations and is negotiating with logging companies which have permits to seasonally log in the Park, in order to terminate logging operations well before the year 2002 - date at which all logging permits expire. The cessation of logging operations may remove resources now being used by pulp mills in the area.

33. The Delegate of Canada acknowledged the need to monitor activities outside the Park which may negatively impact the Park. The Delegate also informed the Bureau that a number of technological approaches have been developed and implemented to monitor water quality in the Peace and Athabasca Rivers and minimize the threat of the drying-out of the Athabasca Delta. A three to five year study, costing about 10 million dollars is underway to examine the Peace-Athabasca basin and the activities in that basin which affect water quality. The studyis a part of Canada's Green Plan for the Environment.

34. The Bureau noted that a number of Canadian non- governmental organizations had suggested that the Wood Buffalo National Park merited consideration for inclusion in the List of World Heritage in Danger. However, the Bureau acknowledged that the Canadian Government was taking appropriate measures to preserve the integrity of this Park. The Bureau requested the Canadian authorities to make special efforts both within the Park and throughout its entire drainage basin in order to retain and restore the integrity of this Park and provide information on the types and nature of technologies which are currently used for mitigating negative impacts on the Peace and Athabasca Rivers due to development activities. The Bureau agreed with the IUCN report that the Wood Buffalo National Park will, in many ways, be a test case for conservation of large, remote reserves and could provide lessons applicable elsewhere.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5335 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.26 Kakadu National Park (Australia) The Bureau was pleased to note that the Australian Cabinet has decided not to allow mining at Coronation Hill, located in an area that is being considered for nomination as an extension to this World Heritage site as part of Stage III of the expansion. The Australian observer informed the Bureau that the proposed Stage III of the extension of Kakadu National Park would add approximately another 6,000 sq.km to this site and wished to know whether or not the nomination of this extension needed to follow the procedure to submit a new nomination. The Bureau recalled that each of the stages I and II of the nomination of this site also covered equally large areas. The Bureau informed the Australian observer that since the proposed extension would increase the size of the World Heritage site by a third and that the original nomination of 1981 is now substantially modified, it would be considered as a new nomination.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5330 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.27 Wet Tropics of Queensland (Australia) The Bureau recalled that the Committee, when it inscribed this site on the World Heritage List in 1988, requested IUCN to submit a progress report in 1991 on the implementation of an effective management regime. The Bureau noted that although a management agency has been set up, the Director and staff were only recently appointed and that the management planning process has been delayed and no additional funds for field management activities have been provided. The Bureau was also concerned about the pace of tourism development and a proposal for a hydropower development project which could impact the site. The Bureau requested that the Australian authorities provide further elaboration on these problems to IUCN so as to enable IUCN to report to the Committee at its forthcoming session in December 1991.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5331 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.28 Iguazu National Park (Argentina) / Iguaçu National Park (Brazil) The Bureau recalled that these two sites cover the same waterfall area which extends across the two countries. The Bureau was concerned that, for tourist purposes, eight helicopters now simultaneously overfly the falls causing serious acoustic disturbance in an otherwise natural setting, and that more than 7,000 visitors have registered complaints. The Bureau also noted that local non-governmental organizations are opposing the use of helicopters as an inappropriate activity that contravenes legal air traffic regulations for flights over protected areas. The Bureau requested the Secretariat to convey these concerns to the authorities of Argentina and Brazil and suggest that they co­operate in devising management strategies to control helicopter tourism of the area.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5332 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.29 Pirin National Park (Bulgaria) The Bureau noted with satisfaction that a major expansion of this site, to include a large area of the Rhodope Mountains, is now under consideration by the Bulgarian authorities. The Bureau wished to encourage the Bulgarian authorities to proceed with the extension of Pirin and to consider submitting a revised nomination of the expanded site. The Bureau also noted the comment of the IUCN representative to the effect that there was great potential for establishing a transborder site with Greece by including areas ajacent to Pirin in Greece. If established this transborder park could be one of the most outstanding natural areas of Europe.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5333 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.30 Dinosaur Provincial Park (Canada) The Bureau noted that in order to accommodate the exploitation of some of the gas deposits under this site which are privately owned, the boundaries of this site have been modified to excise 1,415 acres and add 1,478 acres of higher geological value. Although the Bureau was satisfied with the fact that this swap met the approval of the Provincial Parks Branch of Alberta and the slanted drilling technology to be employed will not have adverse impacts on the integrity of the site, the Bureau observed that drilling of any wells inside the Park would cause greater concern. The Delegate of Canada assured the Bureau that impacts of drilling on the integrity of the Park will be closely monitored by representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations and the Bureau and Committee would be alerted if any threat arose. A revised map of the new boundaries of the site is now awaited.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5334 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.35 Manovo-Gounda Saint Floris National Park (Central African Republic) The Bureau noted with concern that despite a large-scale EEC project, this Park still had no management plan; it continued to be poached intensively, though there had been an appreciable reduction of poaching, particularly of elephants. The loss of six wardens, killed by poachers early in the year, was a regrettable occurrence; the Bureau wished to offer its condoleances to the victims' families. The Bureau also recommended that a management plan be elaborated and that this aspect of the EEC project be implemented as soon as possible. Activities connected with tourism should be integrated into this management plan.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5336 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.36 La Amistad National Park (Costa Rica and Panama) The Bureau was pleased to note that as requested by the Committee at its last session, the Panamanian authorities have agreed to the inscription of this transborder national park as a single site on the World Heritage List. The Bureau urged the Costa Rican authorities to clarify their position to the Secretariat on this matter. The Bureau recalled that during its last session in Banff, the Committee also requested the Costa Rican authorities to revise the boundaries of the La Amistad National Park within their country in accordance with the recommendations made by IUCN. The Bureau noted with satisfaction that the Costa Rican authorities have submitted preliminary proposals for new boundaries and that IUCN had reviewed them and suggested modifications to excise three of the Indian reserves and add one wildlife refuge. The Bureau requested the Secretariat and IUCN to continue communications with the Costa Rican authorities in order to finalize the new boundaries of the La Amistad National Park of Costa Rica and submit them to the consideration of the Committee at its forthcoming session.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5337 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.37 Comoé National Park (Côte d'Ivoire) The Bureau noted with satisfaction that a plan to develop the infrastructures of this Park, funded by the World Bank in the amount of 500 million CFA Francs, was under way. In particular, it should make it possible to improve surveillance and combat local poaching. The Bureau also noted that the Côte d'Ivoire wished to set up a research station for the purpose of studying the ecosystems of the Park and helping to monitor the management of the site; the Bureau recommended that the Secretariat seek bilateral and multilateral funding to this end and that this effort to promote research should primarily benefit national scientists.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5338 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.38 Tai National Park (Côte d'Ivoire) The Bureau noted with satisfaction that this Park benefitted from strong support of German and WWF co-operation for research and conservation of the site, and in the future, incorporation of its peripheral zones in an integrated development plan. But the site was under threat from poachers and from the arrival in the area of refugees from Liberia. Consequently the Bureau wished to encourage the Côte d'Ivoire's partners to back up the existing project by making use of the work already done by the Tai research station in the context of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere project (MAB).

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5339 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.39 Simien National Park (Ethiopia) The Bureau recalled that this site was one of the first natural areas to be inscribed on the World Heritage List. It was abandoned by the staff of the Wildlife Conservation Organization in 1985 due to civil unrest in the area. Since then there are no reliable reports of its condition. A new government is now being formed and hence the Bureau requested that the Secretariat contact the Permanent Delegation for Ethiopia in UNESCO in order to develop mechanisms to obtain an assessment of the present status of this site.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5340 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.40 Mont Saint Michel and its Bay (France) The Secretariat had indicated that it had received, and passed on to the French authorities, another letter from a French association for the protection of the environment drawing attention to potential dangers to this site arising from two projects: the construction of an industrial pig farm and the opening of a leisure park. In reply, the French observer assured the Bureau that neither of these two projects had been authorized, and that the extension and protection of the Mont Saint Michel site was under way at the national level. The Bureau took note of these assurances with satisfaction.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5341 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.41 Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire) The Bureau took cognizance of the IUCN report on the plan to exploit an iron ore deposit which, though situated outside the Nature Reserve proper, nevertheless lay within the site inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981. The Bureau also noted the remark of a Guinean observer who recalled the commitments contained in the new management plan of the Mont Nimba Biosphere Reserve which the Guinean authorities had recently sent to the Secretariat, and the efforts made by those authorities to reconcile development problems with the conservation requirements of the area. The Bureau recalled that it had been consulted in writing by the Secretariat regarding the timeliness of redefining the boundaries of the site inscribed on the World Heritage List; to this end, the Bureau confirmed that the Guinean authorities should submit an official request to the Secretariat accompanied by a map clearly showing the confines of the Strict Nature Reserve and requesting the revision of the boundaries of the site inscribed on the World Heritage List. This request should be submitted to IUCN, which would examine the question of whether it was a simple modification of boundaries or whether a new evaluation of the property should be made in order to justify its retention - or not, as the case may be - on the World Heritage List. The Bureau therefore instructed the Secretariat to urge the Guinean authorities to submit as soon as possible a new file stating the boundaries of the property receiving adequate protection, and the long term guarantees for that protection.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5342 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.42 Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras) The Bureau recalled that the Honduran authorities had requested the Committee, at its last session, to include this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee had suggested at that time that the Honduran authorities submit a request for international assistance from the World Heritage Fund. The Bureau noted that such a request had not yet been received and urged the Secretariat and IUCN to work through national MAB and IUCN networks in order to bring forward a request for the consideration of the Committee at its forthcoming session.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5343 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.43 Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (India) The Bureau noted with concern that the integrity of this site continues to be threatened by the invasion of a resistance movement which has burnt buildings, destroyed bridges, killed a number of park guards, looted most Park facilities, poached numerous rhinos, elephants, tigers and other wildlife, removed valuable trees and depleted fish stocks in the Manas River. The Bureau recalled that the Indian authorities were requested by the Committee, in 1989 and in 1990, to nominate this site to the List of World Heritage in Danger. Although the Bureau acknowledged that the survey of the villages around this Park that is being undertaken by WWF could lead to a more co-operative approach to management of the Sanctuary in the future, the Bureau was of the view that in the meantime the site has been seriously degraded. Hence, the Bureau recommended that the Director-General of UNESCO write to the Indian authorities requesting them to nominate this site for inclusion in the List of World Heritage in Danger.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5344 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.44 Djoudj National Park (Senegal) Since this site was removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1988, IUCN, in co-operation with the Direction des Parcs Nationaux du Senegal (DPN) and the Netherlands Research Institute of Nature Management, has prepared an up-date of actions on the management plan with special emphasis on the interactions between the Park and the surrounding communities. IUCN's Regional Office in Dakar, Senegal, organized a Wetland Management Training Course, from 4-15 March 1991, for twelve students from Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Senegal, as part of IUCN's Wetland Programme activities, and with financial support from the Government of Netherlands. As a result of the training course a wetland training manual will be published. The Bureau recommended that the Committee take note of these positive actions in furthering the recovery of the Djoudj National Park.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5345 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.45 Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal) The Bureau noted that its recommended study of the ecological and socio-economic impacts of the traces of the two roads -across or around the Park - had been successfully carried out by an independent team which had reached the following conclusions: though both roads would adversely affect the integrity of the Park, the road across it would be less damaging in the long term, provided that a number of accompanying measures (specified in detail) were taken before, during and after the work. The Bureau expressed its concern regarding the potential consequences on the integrity of the site of the construction of a road across the Park; consequently it recommended the adoption of a system of particularly vigilant monitoring of the state of conservation of this property. It also noted that experience of road management within a site on the World Heritage List acquired in other countries, such as Canada, could be usefully made available to the Senegalese authorities. With regard to the accompanying measures recommended by the study, the Bureau nevertheless noted with satisfaction the commitment of the Senegalese authorities to earmark 2.5 million CFA Francs for this purpose; a commitment which had been indicated in principle by the President of Senegal in a letter addressed to the Director-General of UNESCO on 22 May 1991. Consequently, the Bureau took note of this commitment in principle, and requested the Senegalese authorities to send the Secretariat details of schedules and technical modalities for the implementation of these measures, as recommended by the study.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5346 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.46 Selous Game Reserve (Tanzania) The Bureau recalled that the integrity of this site was threatened by intensive poaching of its elephant and rhino populations during the 1980s. The Bureau was concerned by a proposed plan of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to open a route through this reserve to drive cattle from the north to the south of Tanzania. Livestock from northern Tanzania carry several bacterial and viral diseases which are easily transmitted to wildlife. The Bureau noted that IUCN's specialist veterinary group have outlined a number of conservation risks of opening the proposed route, and that the Director-General of IUCN has offered the Tanzanian authorities support to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The Bureau recommended that the Chairperson send a letter to the Tanzanian authorities requesting clarification of proposed plans for the cattle route and that caution be exercised before launching the project, particularly without carrying out an EIA.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5347 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.47 Durmitor National Park (Yugoslavia) The Bureau was informed that this site was threatened by a proposed hydropower project which would affect water quality in the Tara River and flood a portion of the Tara Canyon, which is one of this site's World Heritage values. The Bureau was also concerned that the Government of Montenegro, who have authority over the Park, is constructing a large asphalt plant upstream beside the Tara River which is already causing some water pollution. The Bureau requested the Secretariat to contact the Yugoslav authorities in order to clarify the current status of plans for the development of the hydropower project and the asphalt plant. At its next session, if the Committee finds, on the basis of information provided by Yugoslav authorities that the integrity of this site is seriously threatened, then it may request the Yugoslav authorities to nominate this site for inclusion in the List of World Heritage in Danger.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5348 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST 15 BUR VI.48 Plitvice Lake National Park (Yugoslavia) The Bureau was concerned that this Park has been abandoned by the staff due to the civil unrest in the region and that destruction of forests and park facilities, hunting of bears and dynamite fishing were occurring due to lack of any supervision of the Park. The Bureau requested the Secretariat to convey its concern to the Yugoslav authorities and urge them to seek a speedy solution to the problem. The Bureau also suggested that if the situation in the region improved in the immediate future, then the Yugoslavian authorities be requested to invite a joint IUCN/UNESCO mission to assess the state of conservation of this Park. The findings of the joint consultancy mission, if it is undertaken before the forthcoming session of the Committee should be reported to the Committee.

]]> https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/5349 wh-support@unesco.org Mon, 17 Jun 1991 00:00:00 EST