By Year
VII.3 Manovo-Gounda-St.Floris National Park (Central African Republic (CAR))
The Committee, at its last session (Naples, 1997), was seriously concerned about the uncontrolled poaching by armed groups which had led to the death of four members of the Park staff, decimated more than 80% of the Park's wildlife populations and brought tourism to a halt. The Committee had welcomed the efforts of the Government of CAR to assign site management responsibilities to a private Foundation and had requested the Centre and IUCN to contact the State Party and the Foundation to prepare a detailed state ...
VII.5 Sangay National Park (Ecuador)
The Committee, at its last session was informed that colonization and small-scale mining activities had been stopped, a new management plan was nearing finalization and that several conservation projects funded by WWF had begun. The Committee had urged the Centre, in collaboration with IUCN, and agreement with the State Party and possible support from WWF, to plan and organize a site visit to address the problem of the Guamote-Macas road construction project and other threats to the integrity of the site. The Committee was informed that the Bureau, ...
Sites: Sangay National Park
VII.11 Ichkeul National Park (Tunisia)
The Committee inscribed Ichkeul National Park on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1996 and requested the Tunisian authorities to provide a programme of corrective measures to reverse the degradation of the site. The Committee was informed that the Bureau, at its twenty-second ordinary session (June 1998), received a report from IUCN, which provided technical data to indicate that the salinity of the water in the lake may have reached excessively high proportions and that the chances of recovery of the World Heritage values of the site may ...
Sites: Ichkeul National Park
VII.12 Everglades National Park (United States of America)
At its last session (Naples, 1997), the Committee noted significant progress made in the state of conservation of this site following generous Federal and State allocations of financial and human resources. The Delegate of the United States of America provided a detailed state of conservation report on this site, which outlined important measures undertaken to ensure continuing progress in the restoration of this site. In particular, the Committee noted the following:
(i) US$ 26 million worth of land purchases have been ...
Sites: Everglades National Park
VII.13 Yellowstone National Park (United States of America)
At its last session (Naples, 1997), the Committee noted that the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Lands and Minerals Management and the Under Secretary of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment had both signed, on 12 August 1997, the decision authorizing the withdrawal of mineral entry from 22,065 ha near Cooke City, Montana. The potential threat due to the extraction of the New World Mine by Crown Butte was thus mitigated. The Delegate of the United States of America informed the Committee that since then his ...
Sites: Yellowstone National Park
22 COM VII.1
Reports on the State of Conservation of Properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger
VII.1 The Committee examined reports on the state of conservation of twenty-two properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger as submitted in Working Document WHC-98/CONF.203/7 and complemented with information provided by the Secretariat and the advisory bodies during the session.
VII.2 Srebarna Nature Reserve (Bulgaria)
At its nineteenth session (Berlin, 1995) the Committee had requested the Bulgarian authorities to submit a threat mitigation status report to its twenty-second session in 1998. The Bulgarian authorities submitted the report requested by the Committee on Srebarna Nature Reserve, on 28 August 1998, and invited the Centre and IUCN to field a mission to verify the results of measures undertaken to mitigate threats to the integrity of Srebarna. A team consisting of one specialist each from IUCN and the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, and a consultant ...
Sites: Srebarna Nature Reserve
VII.6 Simen National Park (Ethiopia)
The Committee recalled the fact that the regional authorities in Bahir Dar, where this site is located, had disagreed with its decision to include this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1996. The Committee was informed that the Bureau, at its twenty-second session (June 1998) had noted with satisfaction the efforts of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Ethiopia and the UNESCO Office in Addis Ababa, to provide more information to the Bahir Dar authorities on the meaning and implications of the Committee's decision to ...
Sites: Simien National Park
VII.7 Mount Nimba Nature Reserve (Guinea/ Côte d'Ivoire)
The Committee, at its last session (Naples, 1997), had requested the State Party (Guinea) and the Centre to contact the relevant mining companies, which foresee the exploitation of an iron-ore mine in the vicinity of the Reserve, in order to learn more details of their interest to set up an international foundation for the conservation of Mt. Nimba. The Committee was informed of a letter dated 20 September 1998, from the Permanent Executive Secretary of the MAB National Committee for Guinea informing the Centre that the Nimba ...
VII.8 Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras)
The Committee recalled the fact that it included this site in the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1996, and requested the State Party to implement the eleven-point corrective action plan that had been endorsed by the Minister for the Environment of Honduras. The elaboration of a management plan for Rio Platano is being carried out with a contribution of US$ 30,000 from the World Heritage Fund, as part of a large scale project for strengthening the conservation of Rio Platano financed by GTZKFW (Germany). The Committee was informed of a ...
VII.9 Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (India)
The Committee was informed that the implementation of the rehabilitation plan for this site, approved at the twenty-second session of the Bureau (June 1997), was progressing satisfactorily. All equipment purchased using the first instalment of US$ 75,000 approved under emergency assistance by the Bureau in June 1997, has been delivered to the site. The Committee agreed to the use of the small sum of unspent balance from the US$ 75,000 (i.e. US$ 872) by the UNESCO Office in New Delhi for a sitevisit to Manas in early 1999. Construction of range posts ...
Sites: Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
VII.10 Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves (Niger)
The Committee at its twentieth (Merida, 1996) and twenty-first (Naples, 1997) sessions had called for a site visit to evaluate the state of conservation in order to determine whether the site could be removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Committee was pleased to note that the findings of the Centre/State Party/IUCN mission to the site, undertaken from 21 September to 3 October 1998, and those of previous exploratory field missions of the IUCN Office in Niger undertaken with the assistance of the Swiss Development ...
VII.14 Butrinti (Albania)
On the basis of a joint UNESCO-ICOMOS-Butrint Foundation assessment mission (October 1997), the Committee at its twentyfirst session decided to inscribe Butrinti on the List of World Heritage in Danger and to allocate US$ 100,000 as emergency assistance for the implementation of remedial actions.
The Secretariat reported that arrangements had been made with the Albanian authorities for the implementation of concrete actions, such as an inventory and publication of stolen archaeological objects, purchase of water pumps, improvement of fences, the construction of ...
Sites: Butrint
VII.15 Royal Palaces of Abomey (Benin)
At the request of the World Heritage Committee, the Benin authorities prepared a conservation plan, partly financed by the World Heritage Fund. This conservation plan was developed as an instrument for co-operation and partnership to coordinate and ensure the coherence of actions carried out at the site. The Benin Government has allocated additional funding for the implementation of this plan.
Among the objectives set for the coming five years are:
- the establishment of partnerships at the local, national and international level,
- the increase ...
Sites: Royal Palaces of Abomey
VII.16 Angkor (Cambodia)
The Director of UNESCO's Division of Cultural Heritage, reported on progress made in the safeguarding of the site of Angkor which was inscribed on the World Heritage List and simultaneously on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1992. He recalled that international assistance for Angkor is coordinated by an International Co-ordinating Committee cochaired by the Ambassadors of Japan and France in Phnom Penh, with a Secretariat provided by UNESCO. The International Coordinating Committee for Angkor meets periodically to set priorities and monitor the ...
Sites: Angkor
VII.17 Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia)
On the basis of a substantive report on the state of conservation of Dubrovnik that was submitted by the Croatian authorities, ICOMOS advised that it was greatly impressed by the restoration works undertaken in Dubrovnik, and strongly supported the request made by Croatia to delete Dubrovnik from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Committee, following the recommendation of the Bureau, decided with great satisfaction to delete the Old City of Dubrovnik from the List of World Heritage in Danger. It congratulated the Croatian authorities for ...
Sites: Old City of Dubrovnik
VII.18 Bahla Fort (Oman)
Following previous expert missions, a third mission took place in September 1998 to assess the quality of the restoration works in terms of authenticity and use of materials, advise on future works and particularly on the preparation of a management plan for an extended area, including the Fort and the oasis, as well as on the hydro-graphic survey that should be urgently undertaken.
The mission reported that photogrammetric works were due to begin, facilitating therefore the restoration of the Fort. It recommended, among other things, that the conservation plan ...
Sites: Bahla Fort
VII.19 Chan Chan Archaeological Zone (Peru)
The Government of Peru submitted in the course of 1998 periodic progress reports on the preparation of the management plan by an interdisciplinary team of experts.
As to the impact of the El Nino phenomenon, the Secretariat informed that this has been relatively modest and that the protective measures, undertaken with emergency assistance from the World Heritage Fund, were effective.
As to training, a second Pan-American Course on the Conservation and Management of Earthen Architectural and Archaeological Heritage will be held in Chan Chan in ...
VII.20 Wieliczka Salt Mines (Poland)
The Secretariat informed the Committee that it had received from the Polish authorities a technical report assessing the effectiveness of the dehumidifying system at the mines. The report stated that the system had contributed to the elimination of one of the major preservation hazards to historic sculptures, chambers and passages in the salt mine.
ICOMOS advised that the report was credible and that it fully supported the deletion of the Salt Mines from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Committee noted with satisfaction that the ...
VII.42 World Heritage sites in Central America
The Secretariat reported that Hurricane Mitch swept over Central America during the final days of October 1998, causing heavy rains and storms and inundating important parts of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. The region has a number of World Heritage sites, including:
El Salvador: Joya de Ceren Archaeological Site
Guatemala: Tikal National Park
Antigua Guatemala
Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua
Honduras: Maya site of Copan
Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve (on the Danger List)
Nicaragua: The site of Leon Viejo, recognised by ...
VII.4 World Heritage sites of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):
Virunga National Park
Garamba National Park
Kahuzi Biega National Park
Okapi Faunal Reserve
The Committee had declared these four sites as World Heritage in Danger, during 1994-1997, as war and civil strife have ravaged the country. The Committee noted that the Bureau, at its twentysecond ordinary session (June 1998), had been of the view that the security situation in the country may be improving. Hence, the Bureau had encouraged the Centre to continue its efforts, in co-operation with international ...
22 COM VIII.2
Removals from the List of World Heritage in Danger: Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia) & Wieliczka Salt Mines (Poland)
VIII.2 The Committee recalled that, having examined the state of conservation of properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, it had decided to delete the following two properties from the List:
Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia)
On the basis of a substantive report on the state of conservation submitted by the authorities of Croatia, the positive advice of ICOMOS on the restoration works undertaken and the recommendations of the Bureau, the Committee decided to delete the Old City of Dubrovnik from the List of World Heritage in Danger (see also paragraph VII.17 of ...