Saint Catherine Area

Visitors management

Total amount granted: USD 45,871 from the Netherlands Funds in Trust for strengthening national capacities for the implementation of World Heritage impact assessments; EUR 150,000 from the Government of France for Enhancing Capacities for the Protection of World Heritage Properties in Egypt (2020). 

On 9 February 2023, the World Heritage Centre informed the State Party that the property would be subject to a report on its state of conservation to be presented at the extended 45th session of the Committee, in order to better understand and evaluate the overall state of conservation of the property, and subsequent to third party reports concerning a large-scale development project at the property. On 31 March 2023, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, an executive summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/954/documents/, providing the following information:

● Conservation and restoration projects have been carried out at the Monastery, which are assessed prior to implementation by the Permanent Committee for Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities at the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Archaeological investigations were undertaken during 2021/2022 at the Residences of Abbas Pasha area;

● Many conservation measures identified at the time of inscription, such as replacement of the corrugated iron roofing of the Katholikon, conservation and protection of the original wooden elements, and some measures against rising damp, were implemented;

● The Saint Catherine City Development Initiative entitled ‘Great Revelation Initiative – the Land of Peace’, has been launched. This project, which forms part of the National Sustainable Development Strategy aims to: preserve, rehabilitate, and prevent the deterioration of the urban fabric of Saint Catherine, establish a management structure, and develop a strategy for the preservation and urban regeneration of the Saint Catherine Area;

● Annexes to the report provide details of the activities undertaken as part of the Great Revelation Initiative, including the construction of a mountain tourist resort, an eco-lodge, a visitor centre and the Peace Square in the town of Saint Catherine; urban landscape interventions; administrative, security, civic and tourism facilities and infrastructure; renovation of Bedouin housing; and flood control measures, among others.

The State Party appended a Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (RSOUV) to its state of conservation report (see Document WHC/23/45.COM/8E) and submitted a draft International Assistance request that it intends to submit during the next cycle.

Saint Catherine Area is 60,100 ha large and includes the Saint Catherine Monastery and town, various other small settlements, and Mount Horeb. The conservation and research work undertaken by the State Party including with the collaboration of the Saint Catherine Monastery Administration, are welcome.

The 2021 UNESCO Advisory mission to Egypt could not visit the property. Based on the discussions with the State Party, it recommended advance notice in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines for any major projects, including transportation or tourism facility infrastructures.

The Committee has previously requested the development of a Visitor Management Plan (Decision 28 COM 15B.51) and encouraged the State Party to resubmit the nomination as a cultural landscape (Decision 27 COM 8C.16). Seeing the State Party’s expressed intention to further develop the property as a place of pilgrimage, the development of a Management Plan which includes a Visitor Management Plan is urgent. In this regard, the State Party has expressed its intention to submit an International Assistance request for the preparation of a management/conservation plan for the property by 31 October 2023.

The State Party notes that “...accelerated development of hotels and tourist villages and their activities without regulation that governs them will have serious effects on the cultural and natural heritage, which will negatively affect tourism activity”. Hence, it identifies the need for a strategic plan for the city of Saint Catherine.

The Saint Catherine City Development Initiative ‘Great Revelation Initiative – the Land of Peace’, seems to have replaced the 1998 Sustainable Development Plan (SDP), but the status of the latter, which the Committee requested be implemented (Decision 28 COM 15B.51), is not reported on. Several large-scale projects relating to tourism, security infrastructure and civic provisions, have already been or are in the process of being implemented within the boundaries of the property as part of this initiative. The State Party report does not provide consistent details, for instance stating that the visual integrity of the property, specifically views from the Saint Catherine Monastery, are assured, while also noting that tourism developments were planned in a way to provide views toward the Monastery. The impacts of the various projects on the integrity of the property, which have not been subject to impact assessment, need to be assessed in line with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context.

The full details of the City Development Initiative, comprising complete detailed plans and related studies, have not been submitted, but the State Party report states that no further developments are planned that would justify reporting to the World Heritage Centre under the invitation extended by the Committee in Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.

The limited overview of the City Development Initiative provided, and the lack of a Management Plan with a Visitor Management Plan component are all cause for concern, especially in the light of the various development projects already implemented. It is recommended that the State Party be requested to halt the implementation of any further development projects, assess the Saint Catherine City Development Initiative through an impact assessment in line with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, submit the details of both to the World Heritage Centre for review, urgently assess the conservation needs of the property, develop a Conservation Plan and a Management Plan with a Visitor Management Plan component and apply impact assessment procedures for all future developments that may affect the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. It is also deemed advisable to request the State Party to ensure the consolidation of the recently excavated archaeological remains and to invite, with urgency, a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess its state of conservation and the potential impacts of the projects already undertaken.