State of Conservation (SOC)

16COMVIII
Link to the decision

Historic Areas of Istanbul (Turkey)

On the subject of Istanbul, ICOMOS found the information provided by the Turkish authorities to be acceptable. However, it would be desirable for ICOMOS to obtain the accompanying plans of the master safeguard plan, which the Centre might request. Given the importance of Istanbul, which, like Goreme, is the subject of a UNESCO international safeguard campaign, the Committee felt it necessary to send a mission there.

16BURVIII.68
Link to the decision

Istanbul (Turkey)

68. The Bureau, while agreeing in principle to providing support for the continuation of the restoration of mosaics of Saint Sophia in Istanbul, noted that the project approved in 1991 under the World Heritage Fund is expected to be completed by the end of 1992.

The Bureau requested that the Committee at its forthcoming session in Santa Fe, review the report of the project which is currently underway and other information from studies that are being undertaken by the Turkish authorities and decide on an appropriate amount to assist in the continuation of the restoration of the mosaics of St Sophia.

16COMXI.A, B
Link to the decision

The Committee examined document WHC-92/CONF/002/8, 8Add. and 8Add.2, as well as information on additional requests received by the Committee from States Parties during its session, and approved the following projects:

A. Technical Co-operation                                            US$

Galapagos National Park (Ecuador)                             29,000
Revision of the Management Plan to harmonize its goals and objectives to that of the tourism and conservation plan. The Committee instructed the Centre to provide these funds to the Galapagos authorities on the condition that they finalise the implementation of on-going projects receiving assistance from the World Heritage Fund and nominate in 1993, the marine park as an extension to the World Heritage site.

Old City of Cairo (Egypt)                                                            50,000
Restoration of monuments and sites damaged by the earthquake which occurred in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt in October 1992.

Mt. Nimba Nature Reserve (Cote d'Ivoire/ Guinea)            35,000
Organization of an interdisciplinary mission to ascertain boundaries of the site in Guinea, assess impacts of iron-ore mining projects and influx of refugees into the region and plan integrated rural development projects benefiting the local population. The Committee instructed the Centre to contact donors such as UNDP and the World Bank to explore the feasibility of obtaining funds for the organization of the interdisciplin­ary mission and to keep costs of organizing this mission to the minimum possible level.

Historic Areas of Istanbul (Turkey)                                          30,000
Provision of materials and equipment for the restoration of mosaics in St. Sophia.

World Heritage Cities Organization                                 50,000
Support to allow participation at the General Assembly and colloquium of the World Heritage Cities Network, mid-1993, Fez, Morocco.

Sub-total (Technical Co-operation) 194,000

B. Training

1. Saudi Arabia                                                              30,000
Organization of a training course (4-19 April, 1993) on protected area management for the Arab region.

2. France/Mali                                                               30,000
Organization of a one-month (January­- February 1993) course for Francophone Africa in ecology and conservation in the Boucle de Baoule Biosphere Reserve, Mali.

The Committee instructed the Centre to request:

a) the organizers to incorporate a component on the philosophy and work of the Convention in the course curriculum;
b) undertake an evaluation of the course, covering the last 5-year period, and providing specific information on the extent to which course participants have returned to African States Parties to assume responsibilities concerned with natural heritage protection;
c) to ensure in the future that these field courses take place, if possible, at an African natural site inscribed on the World Heritage List.

The Committee also requested the Centre to inform the course organizers (ENGREF/France), that contributions from the Fund for this course will, in the future, depend upon the findings of this evaluation.

3. ICCROM
a) Financial contributions to trainees from States Parties participating in two courses, namely architectural conservation and scientific principles of conservation, respectively, to be held in Rome, Italy, January-March 1993.               30,000

b) Financial contribution to trainees from States Parties participating in the 10th International course on Technology of Stone Conservation and organization of study tours during the course, Venice, Italy, autumn 1993.        44,000

Sub-total (Training) 134,000

The Committee took note of the fact that it approved, at its .fourteenth session in Banff, Canada, a sum of US$50,000 for the Talamanca-La Amistad Reserves of Costa Rica, subject to the State Party satisfying two conditions, viz. that the Costa Rican authorities (a) report on the completion of the projects for which the Committee had already provided funds and, (b) revise the boundaries of the site in accordance with IUCN's recommendations. The Committee was satisfied to note that the Costa Rican authorities have completed the implementation of two of three on-going projects which receive assistance from the World Heritage Fund. The Committee requested the Centre to contact the Costa Rican authorities and to urge them to expedite the implementation of the remaining project and revise the boundaries of the Talamanca-La Amistad Reserves in accordance with IUCN's recommendations.

The Committee took note of the fact that the implementation of the project to prepare a Master Plan for the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, Peru, for which the Committee approved a sum of US$40,000 during its fifteenth session in Carthage, Tunisia, has not progressed according to the timetable foreseen in the project proposal due to changes in the co­operating government agencies.

The Committee was informed by the Regional Coordinator for the UNDP/UNESCO Project on Cultural Heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean that the situation is now stable and that the implementation rate of the project is expected to improve in 1993.