The Grand Canal

Threats identified at the time of inscription of the property:

• Need to revise the system of buffer zones and to consider the definition of priority visibility corridors in order to protect them from the potential impact of new constructions
• Finalize the creation of the Monitoring and Archive Centre and improve the historical and archaeological knowledge of the property
• Need to strengthen the quality of the tourism development and visitor reception plans
• Need to improve water quality

The State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property on 18 November 2015, and a summary is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1443/documents.

The State Party recalls that the very large size of the property (31 different sites, more than 1,000 km in length of the inscribed canal), its complex history, (more than 2,000 years of hydraulic, archaeological, architectural and urban history) its living character, (transport of extremely heavy tonnage) its function as a waterway transport system from central-eastern China to the north, high tourist traffic in some areas), and its present environment, (all types of environment: rural, natural, urban, suburban and industrial) make it a very complex property to manage and conserve. The organizational and methodological efforts carried out to improve the protection and conservation of the Grand Canal and its surroundings must be considered in this overall perspective and take into account the different levels of intervention (local, regional, national).

The management of the conservation of the Grand Canal is experiencing a series of issues which the State Party is responding to:

• ensure the hydraulic management of a heritage canal compatible with intensive use by heavy tonnage ships and the massive use of water for major populations;
• conserve a satisfactory level of water quality while attempting to improve it in various sectors;
• ensuring manageable and sustainable tourism development of the Grand Canal compatible with the conservation of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and notably its authenticity;
• improve the historical and archaeological knowledge of the Grand Canal;
• facilitate a clear identification of the major attributes of the property and their historical comprehension from both the technical and the social aspect;
• improve coordination of the management system between the different regional and local partners, to better control and preserve the approaches to the Grand Canal and to satisfactorily manage its environmental conservation;
• maintain control of the landscape aspects of the Grand Canal in its multiple environments to define and delimit them and provide effective protection.

In respect of the management system in place at the time of inscription of the property, and taking into account the recommendations contained in Decision 38 COM 8B.23 (Doha, 2014), it must be noted that the State Party has specifically oriented its action as follows:

• Improvement of cooperation with the regional authorities and municipalities, in particular through the Alliance for the Protection and Management of the Grand Canal, which has enabled the redefining of the buffer zones in six of the 31 components of the serial property. Moreover, this action has been the subject of a request for a minor modification of the property’s boundaries, which must be examined during the present session of the World Heritage Committee (see Document WHC/16/40.COM/8B);
• The integrated monitoring system and the documentation of the property has been fully established, at both the national level as well as at the 31 components, thanks to cooperation between the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) of the State Party and the Alliance; the monitoring indicator table has been completed and controlled, to particularly take into account the environmental aspects of the property; the annual reports of the sites, as well as the statistical data concerning the monitoring of the property, which are available since 2015 and established following a unified format (see the central database: grand-canal.org.cn/en);
• An improved identification of the historical and archaeological signification of the constituent elements of the property is underway and is one of the work objectives of the different teams at the sites. The excavations to improve the knowledge of the Grand Canal continue and reveal new elements which have, for example, led to the extension of one of the buffer zones;
• A Guide for the Protection and Coordination of the Landscapes of the Grand Canal has been prepared and published to standardize and reinforce the conservation of the approaches and landscapes of the Grand Canal. It especially defines the notion of a vision corridor along the canal and proposes standard regulations for the historical constructions in urban areas;
• The preparation of a compilation of local and regional tourism reception plans will enable an improved coordination of tourist development activities and the promotion of conservation actions and the role of traditional villages and urban zones with a historical character along the Grand Canal;
• The development of a plan to improve water quality to enable a better control of pollution sources, improve the environmental conditions of the local populations through the reinforcement of the waste water collection and treatment system, and more extensively to strengthen the control of urban pollution along the Grand Canal;
• Financial support provided by the State Party for the conservation of the property, the development of a plan to improve water quality and to the establishment of permanent and systematic monitoring of the Grand Canal have been significantly strengthened;
• The strengthening of training programmes for the Grand Canal and its attributes will enable an improved comprehension of its OUV and the capacities required for the management and monitoring staff;
• A programme of international seminars and exchanges based on research, conservation and valorization of the Grand Canal and other similar properties worldwide is ongoing.

The important efforts made by the State Party correspond closely to the recommendations contained in Decision 38 COM 8B.23 and have resulted in the improvement of the management of the property, its environment and monitoring. Therefore, it is recommended that the State Party be encouraged to continue its efforts and strengthen them in some sensitive areas such as landscape conservation in general and in urban areas in particular, water quality and the coordination of tourism development.