Western Tien-Shan

Factors identified at the time of inscription in 2016:

• Management systems / Management Plan (Need to finalize the transboundary management framework for the property); Need to further develop collaboration between the States Parties in the framework of a tripartite Memorandum for management of the property; Need to review and rationalize the boundaries of the components of the property and their buffer zones to ensure that they fully correspond to criterion (x))
• Human resources (Lack of capacity on transnational management)

Uzbekistan

On 1 February 2018, the State Party of Uzbekistan submitted a report on the state of conservation of the Uzbek components of this serial property, which is available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1490/documents/, and provides the following information:

• A draft Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on Management and Protection of the property has been developed by the Forestry and Wildlife Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the State Committee for Ecology and Environment Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Various actions, including establishment of a coordinating working group and a monitoring programme for the property, have been planned. Coordination between the States Parties continues for the signing of the MoC;
• Two decrees were adopted in Uzbekistan in 2016-2017, which concern conservation and management of the Chatkal Biosphere Reserve component of the property. Specifically, protection activities in the Bashkizilsay area and the Maydantal area of the biosphere reserve were entrusted to the Uzbekistan National Railway Company and the State Committee for Forestry, respectively;
• A buffer zone for the Chatkal Biosphere Reserve is planned to be established as part of a joint UNDP/Global Environment Facility (GEF)/State Committee project for sustainable management of natural and forest resources.

Kazakhstan

On 9 April 2018, the State Party of Kazakhstan submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, also available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1490/documents/. With regards to the trilateral MoC, the State Party provides some further details regarding the process by which the draft was developed and notes that signing of the MoC has been delayed since mid-2017, due to significant ongoing changes in the management system of protected areas in Uzbekistan. A copy of the MoC (in Russian) was submitted by the State Party with its report.

Regarding the Kazakh components of the property, the State Party informs that the boundaries of the Sairam-Ugam component have been revised. Specifically, the areas within the Limited Economic Use zone of the Sairam-Ugam National Park (ca. 60,628 ha according to the information provided in the report) are proposed to be included in the buffer zone of the property. Some technical mistakes regarding the boundaries of the property were also noted and maps of the proposed revised and adjusted boundaries have been submitted by the State Party with its report. 

Kyrgyzstan

The State Party of Kyrgyzstan did not submit a report on the state of conservation of the property.

The information provided by the States Parties of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan regarding the elaboration of a trilateral MoC on the management and protection of the property is welcomed. It is, however, regrettable that it has not yet been signed by all three States Parties and it is therefore recommended that the Committee urge the States Parties to complete the signing of the MoC as soon as possible and to expedite the actions required to operationalize the MoC, once duly signed by all three States Parties, particularly with regards to the establishment of the planned joint steering committee, which would assume coordinating functions. Development of a functioning transboundary management framework for the property will require additional efforts and in this regard, it should be recalled that in its Decision 40 COM 8B.9, the Committee also requested the States Parties to work in consultation with IUCN to build capacity on transnational management of the property.

With regards to the information provided by the State Party of Uzbekistan regarding the management provisions for the Bashkizilsay and Maydantal areas of the Chatkal Biosphere Reserve component of the property, it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to clarify the role of the railway company in the protection of the property, and provide more detailed information regarding potential changes in the management system that result from these decrees, and possible impacts on the conservation of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property. 

The information provided by the State Party of Kazakhstan regarding the revision of the boundaries on the Sayram-Ugam component of the property is noted. However, it should be recalled that any proposed changes to the boundaries of the property should be officially submitted by the States Parties in the form of a proposal for boundary modifications. It is noted with concern that some of the changes outlined in the information provided by the State Party of Kazakhstan appear to propose exclusion of a large area from the boundaries of the property, to be instead included in its buffer zone. It should be stressed that changes to the boundaries should only be proposed with the aim of enhancing representation and protection of the property’s OUV, and that in its Decision 40 COM 8B.9, the Committee requested the States Parties to review and rationalize the boundaries of the components of the property and their buffer zones to ensure that they fully correspond to criterion (x), follow ecological principles and address connectivity. Areas originally included into the property for their paleontological values in relation to criterion (viii) should also be excluded, since the property was inscribed under criterion (x) only. It is therefore recommended that the Committee reiterate its request to the States Parties to review and rationalize the boundaries of the property, and to develop, as a matter of priority, a joint proposal for a significant boundary modification, in accordance with Paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines. It is further recommended that the Committee encourage the States Parties to consider, as part of the boundary modification process, the potential of the property to also meet criterion (ix), in addition to criterion (x).

Finally, it is regrettable that the State Party of Kyrgyzstan did not submit a report on the state of conservation of the Kyrgyz components of the property. It is therefore recommended that the Committee request the States Parties to submit joint reports on the state of conservation of the entire transboundary property for examination by the Committee in the future.