Precolumbian Chiefdom Settlements with Stone Spheres of the Diquís

Threats identified at the time of the inscription of the property in 2014:

• Governance
• Interpretative and visitation facilities (provide visitor interpretation and future accessibility to components not yet open to the public)
• Human resources (guardians and managers)
• Housing (future urban development)
• Water infrastructure (discussion on the construction of a hydropower dam)

On 26 November 2015 the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at the following web address: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1453/documents and provides information on the progress made in implementing the recommendations adopted during the inscription of the property on the World Heritage List at the 38th session of the Committee (Doha, 2014), as follows:

• Within the framework of the cooperation between Mexico and Costa Rica, a team of Mexican experts was invited to visit the property and worked jointly with the local team to implement a methodology to develop the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for the Diquís Hydroelectric Dam and the Southern International Airport and to identify the attributes supporting the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and other values, as well as potential threats deriving from both development projects. An expert in matrix evaluation needs to be hired and will work with the joint Mexican-local team until the end of the evaluation, which is expected to take one year.
• The State Party began the acquisition of 5.6ha of land around the stone sphere in El Silencio site; this land was supposed to enter into State possession before the end of 2015. The rest of the site will be included in the buffer zone.
• The elaboration of the Risk Preparedness and Disaster Management Plans was scheduled by the first quarter of 2016, beginning with a study of the hydrology and drainage system. Completion of a regulatory plan for the property was expected by the end of 2015 by the municipality of Osa. This plan will be accompanied by a Manual of archaeological sites.
• Addressing management resources needs, four people were assigned to Finca 6 site, temporary workers for maintenance needs are hired and a contract for 24-h surveillance of the same site is in place. New positions are planned to be requested to the Ministry of Finance in 2016, when also a new administrative and management structure is expected to come into force.
• Local teams have been involved in educational and promotional projects. Educational leaflets and a booklet on the OUV of the property have been published.
• Monitoring indicators for Finca 6 site have been elaborated.

The determined commitment of the State Party to the conservation and management of the property should be noted. All of the recommendations made by the Committee at the time of inscription in 2014 have been acted upon and, despite the complexity of the tasks, useful preliminary results have been already achieved, as illustrated in this analysis.

Southern International Airport

The report clarifies the following:

• Different versions of the project, now at its feasibility phase, exist; the current version covers an area of 500ha for an airport able to receive international flights and is quite close to Finca 6 site,
• An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been conducted and the final analysis awaits the completion of the HIA and no construction has been initiated. The EIA included archaeological prospections and at least five archaeological sites were detected in areas where the airport would be located,
• The project envisages a runway 2.2km long and 45m wide, two terminal areas (6,000sqm only one), a parking platform for 4 aircrafts (32,000sqm) plus additional facilities (base and fire stations, control tower, etc.) and requires 6,250sqm of paved roads and linear infrastructure.

It appears evident from this preliminary information that if the airport is constructed as planned, it will have negative impacts on the Finca 6 component, its archaeological and landscape setting, so far mainly rural. The creation of a large waterproofed area (asphalted tracks, parking areas and roads) may also significantly increase the vulnerability to floods in a river delta area with potential negative impacts on the archaeological layers and on the operation of the airport.

El Diquis Hydroelectric Dam Project (PHD)

The report informs that this project is at its feasibility stage, implementing EIA. If built, it will become the largest project of this type in Central America. The reservoir will cover 6,815ha with a planned annual production of 3,050GWh. Since the reservoir will flood indigenous land (915ha), a consultation process is required. The Powerhouse (casa de máquinas) as well as other service structures and areas to the Hydroelectric infrastructure will be located at less than 1 km from the Batambal component, and one of the recognised values of the site is the landscape view, which will be negatively impacted by the project.

The analysis of the attributes and of the potential impacts highlights many severe threats deriving from both projects to the OUV of the property and suggests the need for their complete reconsideration.

The State Party has acquired 5.6ha of land by expropriation around the stone sphere, differently from what was suggested by the Committee's recommendations.

The Risk Preparedness and Disaster Management Plans are scheduled for the first quarter of 2016 beginning with a study of the hydrology and drainage system, already approved; whilst the regulatory plan for the buffer zones is under preparation under the responsibility of the Osa Municipality, the plan will be accompanied by a Manual of archaeological sites (completion expected by the end of 2015).