Churches of Chiloé

• Insufficient delimitation of boundaries
• Construction of a shopping mall in the vicinity of the Castro Church

On 9 February 2015, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, a summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/971/documents/.  Implementation of actions is reported as follows:

• The legal text establishing the new Ministry of Culture which will bring together the National Council of Culture and the Arts (CNCA), the Directorate of Libraries, Archives and Museums (DIBAM), and the National Monuments Council (CMN) is in progress and will be sent to the National Congress for approval in the course of 2015.
• The decree officializing the National Policy for Urban Development, adopted in May 2013, is still pending for approval. No specific timeframe for its adoption has been provided.
• The development of a National Programme for World Heritage Sites with the participation of the Ministries concerned and all stakeholders is in progress and a 2nd meeting of Chilean World Heritage site managers took place in December 2014 to progress on this initiative.
• Through the Programme Value Enhancement of Heritage, public investment in the property has been ensured to continue financing restoration works conducted by FUNDAICH (Foundation Friends of the Churches of Chiloé).
• The “Integral plan to protect the churches’ settings as Typical Zones” is being implemented and to date, 6 churches have been granted legal protection under Law N° 17288 with well-defined and official buffer zones and the corresponding regulatory measures. 3 more churches will be part of the system in 2015 and it is announced that the process for the remaining 7 churches will be completed by December 2016. San Francisco Church’ setting protection in Castro is foreseen to be regulated through the revision of the Local Regulatory Plan to be completed during 2015-2016. A request for Minor Boundary Modification will be submitted for 9 churches by 1 February 2016 and the others at a later stage.
• 6 municipalities are considering Preliminary Protection Areas (APP) initially proposed for the definition of wider settings. The process to update and develop Local Regulatory Plans in rural and urban areas is being conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MINVU) and is expected to be finalized by 2017.
• Guidelines and tools for a comprehensive Management Plan are being developed by FUNDAICH and CMN which includes the update of the criteria and procedures of intervention at the Churches, the restoration plan, a management model for the Route of the Churches for touristic purposes, Carpenters School, the re-launching of the program To Restore with identity among others. Particular attention is paid to actions involving local communities in the monitoring and conservation process.
• With regard to the mitigation measures of the Castro shopping mall constructed in 2013, the State Party is making efforts to avoid new similar constructions through the revision of the Local Regulatory Plan with a view to divide or fragment the building’s volume and reduce its heights. The Municipality of Castro has approved in January 2015 the development of a study to revise the current urban regulations.
• A list of measures to improve the transit management, accessibility and relieve traffic pressures in Castro have been mentioned, such as the implementation of a Transport Plan developed by the Transport Department of Castro and the construction of a Bypass to Route 5 at the south of the City. Furthermore, the Ministry of Transports and Telecommunication requested the Shopping Mall of Castro an analysis of voluntary mitigation measures.

The important efforts made by the State Party to strengthen the coordination among the various levels of administration are welcomed. The future creation of the Ministry of Culture will be a significant progress in this direction as well as the design of the National Program for World Heritage Sites.

The progress made in the delimitation of buffer zones through the Integral plan to protect the Church’s setting as Typical Zones to further protect the characteristics of wider setting for all the components of the property is also noted. However, up to date only 6 churches from the total of 16 have protected zones. As stated in the recommendations of the 2013 Reactive Monitoring mission, the absence of clear regulations to control possible threats constitutes a risk to the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property and this question needs to be urgently addressed. The timetable proposed by the State Party until end 2016 requires to be fully respected. It is therefore urgent that the State Party submit the proposed buffer zones for all the components, in conformity with the procedures for Minor Boundary Modification set up in the Operational Guidelines.

As to the Integrated Management Plan for the sixteen churches, the progress made with the revised criteria of intervention, the restoration plan and other programmes linked to the sustainable tourism strategy and the effective participation of local communities is very encouraging. However, it is crucial to finalize the process to fully guarantee the protection of the OUV of the property. 

Regarding the mall at Castro, no significant progress has been made with regard to mitigation measures requested by the Committee in its last decision nor the study of traffic impact requested on the urban tissue of Castro. The fundamental importance of all the churches as dominant elements in the landscape of Castro has been identified by the 2013 mission as part of the attributes for its OUV, and it was considered that the mall has a negative impact and compromises the wider setting of the church of Castro. It is therefore urgent that the revision of the Local Regulatory Plan of the City will be conducive to the effective reduction of the buildings’ volume and heights to avoid similar situations in the future. The implementation of a transport plan for the City and the By Pass project for the main Route 5 crossing near the San Francisco de Castro Church which will alleviate the transit pressure and the financial commitments to ensure its finalization by 2018 is a good progress and requires to be fully implemented.

The important efforts made by the State Party and FUNDAICH in the restoration of the churches in Dalcahue and Chelín is recognized, and it is important the State Party continues providing resources and expertise through the Programme Value Enhancement of Heritage put in place by the State Party.