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National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers

Haiti
Factors affecting the property in 2011*
  • Deliberate destruction of heritage
  • Earthquake
  • Ground transport infrastructure
  • Major visitor accommodation and associated infrastructure
  • Management systems/ management plan
  • Water (rain/water table)
Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports

a) Lack of a Management Plan;

b) Lack of a Conservation Plan;

c) Water damage;

d) Vandalism;

e) Seismic activities;

f) Infrastructure projects;

g) Lack of a Risk Preparedness Plan;

UNESCO Extra-Budgetary Funds until 2011

USD 14 780 for the July 2010 Technical Mission partially funded by the Spanish Funds in Trust for World Heritage

International Assistance: requests for the property until 2011
Requests approved: 7 (from 1982-2010)
Total amount approved : 246,110 USD
Missions to the property until 2011**

September 2006: UNESCO Havana Office Technical Visit; July 2010: Joint Expert Technical Mission; March 2011: Preparatory Mission for Haiti Donor’s Conference, CLT 

Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2011

In the framework of the preparations for the Haiti Donors Conference for Culture , the World Heritage Centre had the opportunity to discuss in three working sessions with members of the Haitian Institute for the Preservation of the National Heritage (ISPAN). The national authorities submitted official information on the state of conservation of the World Heritage property: current projects, programmes seeking funding, the list of proposals for action in terms of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, as well as a detailed analysis on progress made since the last mission of July 2010. Mission report: https://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/35COM. Brochure for the Donors’ Conference: https://whc.unesco.org/en/events/725

 

For the Donors’ Conference, ISPAN requested assistance for the creation of a technical office at the Citadel, implemented by two technitians, one sited at Milot and the other at Dondon, the two populations located at the northern and southern extremities of the National Park.

In September 2010 the World Heritage Centre organized a technical working meeting with the experts who accompanied the mission in July 2010, in order to prepare a working document in accordance with the Decision of the World Heritage Committee in 2010. Special emphasis was placed on actions for the implementation of the conservation and risk management plan. The final technical document that will provide the basis for the action plan is being finalized. The Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value is being developed and the historic documentation of the construction of the property have been completed with documentation from UNESCO, ICOMOS, and the cartographic archives of the Chateau of Vincennes.

Regarding the Retrospective Inventory of the property, the Ministry of Culture and Communication established official boundaries for the National Park through a Presidential Order in July 2010. The boundaries of the Park will be defined, and work to identify types of land tenue within the site and in the surrounding areas are underway.

Discussions have been initiated with representatives of the European Union, the Ministry of Public Works, representatives of the Ministry of Planning, and the Ministry for Tourism, in order to obtain all information relating to the construction of the 003 national road, the original route of which had caused the World Heritage Committee to request a halt to its construction in 2010. Alternative routes circumventing the Park were also requested. During the working meeting with the Ministry of Public Works and its team, it was confirmed that technical and financial assessment studies for an alternative route were underway. Haitian officials have confirmed that the technical project to improve the national road, which currently runs through the Park, linking Milot with Dondon, will be submitted for examination to the World Heritage Centre.

With regard to plans for tourism projects to be developed at the Citadel, discussions were initiated with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Port-au-Prince. It was informed in detail of the decisions officially adopted by the World Heritage Committee requesting the interruption of the mass tourism project at the Citadel until the Conservation and Management Plan of the site is finalieed. The IDB is one of the investors, along with the Royal Caribbean Company and the Ministry for Tourism, in the action programme to organize visits for tourists desembarking from cruise ships at Labadee. ISPAN has not accepted supervising of planned actions, or to sign the proposal for their implementation. The Ministry of Culture and Communication, responsible for the conservation of the property, did not participate in negotiations, as it is not included among the signatories of the programme of interventions in the agreement of the IDB with the Haitian Government. 

The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) has confirmed a State subvention of 200,000 Euros for the development of conservation, management and risk preparedness plans to make progress on what was foreseen in Decision 34 COM 7B.110 of the World Heritage Committee.

Analysis and Conclusion by World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2011

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies propose to the World Heritage Committee to thank ISPAN for its collaboration, particularly for having maintained constant communication, despite the difficult circumstances in the country, and take note of the determination of ISPAN in the implementation of actions called for by the World Heritage Committee.

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2011
35 COM 7B.125
National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers (Haiti) (C 180)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/7B.Add,

2. Recalling Decision 34 COM 7B.110, adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010),

3. Takes note of the information provided by the State Party regarding the arrangements for implementing the decisions of the World Heritage Committee, recognizes the efforts made by the State Party to ensure the safeguarding of the property and commends the Haitian Institute for the Preservation of the National Heritage (ISPAN) for the work undertaken and the respect of the decisions of the World Heritage Committee;

4. Welcomes the initiative of the Culture Sector of UNESCO in organizing the Haiti Donors Conference for Culture on 19 April 2011, and requests that the projects foreseen for the property be one of the priorities of the action plan that will be developed.

5. Also thanks the Government of Spain and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation for their generous contribution to the implementation of the decisions of the World Heritage Committee;

6. Also takes note of the mission report prepared by the World Heritage Centre;

7. Further takes note of the progress of the Haitian Ministry for Public Works' proposal for an alternative to the 003 national road, and reiterates its request that the final draft, as well as the environmental impact studies and the assessment of impact on the heritage be submitted to the World Heritage Centre and to the Advisory Bodies for review before any intervention;

8. Also requests the State Party to submit the technical project for the improvement of the existing road within the Park, including its route, the engineering work for the canalization of the river, the type of asphalt and the width of the route, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;

9. Further requests the State Party to take all necessary measures at the inter-ministerial level to ensure that no undertaking, work or facilities destined for tourism are developed before they are taken into consideration in the conservation plan;

10. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre the draft Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value of the property and to take all necessary steps to officially finalize the cadastral survey, as well as the delineation of the Park boundaries and its buffer zone and the legal framework for their protection;

11. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2012, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012.

Draft Decision: 35 COM 7B.125

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/7B.Add,  

2. Recalling Decision 34 COM 7B.110, adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010),

3. Takes note of the information provided by the State Party regarding the arrangements for implementing the decisions of the World Heritage Committee, recognizes the efforts made by the State Party to ensure the safeguarding of the property and thanks the Haitian Institute for the Preservation of the National Heritage (ISPAN) for the work undertaken and the respect of the decisions of the World Heritage Committee;

4. Welcomes the initiative of the Culture Sector of UNESCO in organizing the Haiti Donors Conference for Culture on 19 April 2011, and requests that the projects foreseen for the property be one of the priorities of the action plan that will be developed.

5. Also thanks the Government of Spain and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation for their generous contribution to the implementation of the decisions of the World Heritage Committee;

6. Also takes note of the mission report prepared by the World Heritage Centre;

7. Further takes note of the progress of the Haitian Ministry for Public Works’ proposal for an alternative to the 003 national road, and reiterates its request that the final draft, as well as the environmental impact studies and the assessment of impact on the heritage be submitted to the World Heritage Centre and to the Advisory Bodies for review before any intervention;

8. Also requests the State Party to submit the technical project for the improvement of the existing road within the Park, including its route, the engineering work for the canalization of the river, the type of asphalt and the width of the route, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;

9. Further requests the State Party to take all necessary measures at the inter-ministerial level to ensure that no undertaking, work or facilities destined for tourism are developed before they are taken into consideration in the conservation plan;

10. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre the draft Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value of the property and to take all necessary steps to officially finalize the cadastral survey, as well as the delineation of the Park boundaries and its buffer zone and the legal framework for their protection;

11. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2012, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012. 

Report year: 2011
Haiti
Date of Inscription: 1982
Category: Cultural
Criteria: (iv)(vi)
Documents examined by the Committee
arrow_circle_right 35COM (2011)
Exports

* : The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).

** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.


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