Ruins of the Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur

• Lack of capacity in conservation techniques;
• Lack of management mechanism (including legislation);
• Lack of monitoring system;
• Lack of human or financial resources.

At its 26th session in 2002, having examined the state of conservation of the property, the Committee requested and encouraged the authorities to consider the nomination of the property to the List of World Heritage in Danger in order to mobilize the significant international financial and technical resources to address the conservation challenges facing the property. The Committee also requested to elaborate an action plan to enhance the long-term conservation and management of the site, remove the ascertained and potential threats facing the property and to submit an international assistance request.

Following the Committee's decisions, a second UNESCO mission to Paharpur took place in October 2002, which concluded that the site was no longer facing immediate threats and danger as the inappropriate rehabilitation work had regretfully been completed leaving some irreversible changes to the authentic character of the property. However, to reverse the inappropriate work to the extent possible, the following specific measures were recommended: Enact and enforce a moratorium on all future work involving further excavations and rehabilitation;  Training for the conservation for terracotta plaques and other archaeological materials;  Digital inventory and publication of all terracotta plaques as a precaution against theft and to facilitate future study; Enhancement of visitor management;  Organization of an expert workshop to define the medium and long-term strategy of archaeological study and conservation of the site.

A third UNESCO mission was organized in February 2003 to assist the authorities in further implementing the UNESCO recommendations made during the October 2002 UNESCO mission. The mission found that the previously recommended "moratorium" had been respected, and that no major restoration or construction work had been carried out on the site. However, the mission noted some degradation, notably on the upper terrace where a terracotta plaque was almost detached from the wall, as well as a few inscriptions on the walls, a few bricks missing, and a sidewall collapsing. The mission recommended that a regular monitoring of the monument be maintained. The mission also recommended that in order to improve the protection of the monument, access to the upper terrace should be forbidden, in accordance with the second UNESCO mission's recommendation, as the current number of guardians is insufficient to adequately control visitor flow.

A first part of the inventory had been completed between October 2002 and February 2003 in which 870 terracotta plaques from three different store-rooms had been numbered, though with no photographic information. General improvements in storage are required after the training for terracotta plaque conservation has taken place. However, a large amount of fragmentary terracotta plaques currently lying on the floor of the custodian’s house, require urgent and proper storage and protection. On 6 March 2003, the authorities of Bangladesh submitted a project proposal for the organization of a workshop to elaborate archaeological research and a strategy for the Ruins of the Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur, to be funded under the France-UNESCO Convention.

On 30 March 2003, the authorities of Bangladesh submitted two International Assistance requests, one for Training Assistance and one for Technical Co-operation, which are in the process of reformulation. The two requests are presented in the working document for International Assistance, according to the request of the World Heritage Committee (26th session).