Periodic Reporting 2nd Cycle: Asia & Pacific (2012)

The second cycle of Periodic Reporting for the Asia and Pacific was launched by the World Heritage Committee at its 34^th session in Brasilia, Brazil in August 2010. All 41 State Parties to the Convention in Asia and the Pacific actively participated in this cycle and worked together on this vital component of the Convention.

Objectives

The second cycle of Periodic Reporting has provided all States Parties of the Asia and the Pacific region an opportunity to assess the progress and challenges that have occurred since the first cycle of Periodic Reporting, to allow for a review of the current situations in all the States Parties and the World Heritage properties in the region for the first time in the history of the Convention.

Periodic Reporting provides four main purposes

1. To provide an assessment of the application of the World Heritage Convention by the State Party;
2. To provide an assessment as to whether the Outstanding Universal Value of the properties inscribed on the World Heritage List is being maintained over time;
3. To provide up-dated information about the World heritage properties and to record the changing circumstances and state of conservation of the properties;
4. To provide a mechanism for establishing and enhancing regional co-operation and exchange of information and experiences between States Parties concerning and implementation of the Convention and conservation.

Periodic Reporting process is important for more effective long term conservation and management of the properties as well as for further strengthening the credibility of the Convention.

The World Heritage Committee invites States Parties to submit periodic reports every six years, and requests the Secretariat, the World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the States Parties and the Advisory Bodies, to develop regional strategies as an outcome of the periodic reporting process. These Strategies should be designed to respond to specific characteristics and needs of the regions and should promote regional cooperation between State Parties.

Scope

The States Parties of Asia and the Pacific were requested to submit the following documentation:

1. Draft retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value (SOUV) of the World Heritage properties inscribed from 1978 to 2006;
2. Periodic Reporting online questionnaire: The Responses are comprised of the
1. Section I (Implementation of the World Heritage Convention at national level) for all the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention
2. Section II (State of conservation of each World Heritage property) for the World Heritage properties inscribed from 1978 to 2010;
3. Requested cartographic information on the World Heritage properties inscribed from 1978 to 1998 for Retrospective Inventory
   Information required for Periodic Reporting
1. 166 properties were requested to prepare draft retrospective SOUVs;
2. 41 States Parties were requested to answer Section I and 198 properties in 31 States Parties were requested to answer Section II for the Periodic Reporting online questionnaire; and
3. 96 properties out of 106 properties inscribed from 1978 to 1998, which are located in 19 States Parties, were requested to submit cartographic information for Retrospective Inventory.

Workshops and Activities

Periodic Reporting 2010-2012 Workshops and Activities Asia and the Pacific

The Second cycle of the Period Reporting two year exercise was first established through the preliminary workshops, which were held in three regions of Asia and the Pacific

• Pacific region - Maupiti, French Polynesia, November 2009

• East and Southeast Asia - Taiyuan, China, April 2010
• West, Central and South Asia - Dehradun, India, June 2010

The objectives of these workshops were to “train the trainers”, where the guidance and explanation on the preparation of draft retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value, Periodic Reporting questionnaires, and Retrospective Inventory were provided to national focal points.

Sub-and national regional workshops and other types of activities and assistance

Throughout 2010 and 2011, there has been a whole range of national and sub-regional workshops initiated by the individual or groups of State Parties, which have been organized in conjunction with the UNESCO Field Offices. These meeting in the form of workshops were vital in the beginning stages for explaining the process to site managers, and to jointly work on the Periodic Reporting questionnaire. Also informal meetings took place throughout the two year period and were very productive and have been fundamental to the success of this whole process. The active engagement at the national and regional level that has taken place must be recognized as highly important for the successful implementation of Periodic Reporting. The collaborative effort and their ultimate achievements are the product of everyone involved, focal points and site mangers in particular.

List of national and sub-regional workshops

• National workshop for Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal, August 2010)
• National workshop for Iran (Tabriz, Iran, September 2010)
• National workshop for the Philippines (Vigan, Philippines, October 2010)
• National workshop for Indonesia (Jakarta, Indonesia, October 2010)
• National workshop for Bangladesh (Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 2010)
• National workshop for natural properties in Thailand (Khao Yai, Thailand, January 2011)
• National workshop for Viet Nam (Ha Noi, Viet Nam, May 2011)
• National workshop for natural properties in Indonesia (Jakarta, Indonesia, June 2011)
• National workshop for Sri Lanka (Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 2011)
• National workshop for Iran (Shiraz, Iran, September 2011)
• Sub-regional workshop for Central Asia (for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Uzbekistan, September 2010)
• Sub-regional workshop for natural properties in South Asia (for Bangladesh, India, and Nepal: Dehradun, India, November 2010)
• Sub-regional workshop for Southeast Asia (for Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Viet Nam: Jakarta, Indonesia, December 2010)
• Sub-regional workshop for South Asia (for Maldives and Sri Lanka: Colombo, Sri Lanka, December 2010)
• Sub-regional workshop for South Asia (for Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal: Kathmandu, Nepal, April 2011)
• Joint meeting for Mongolia and the Russian Federation for the trans-boundary property of Uvs Nuur Basin (Ulaangom, Mongolia, May 2011)

Follow-up to Periodic Reporting

Actions Plans

Based on the outcome of the second cycle of Periodic Reporting, the States Parties in Asia developed the Suwon Action Plan in Suwon, Republic of Korea, in December 2011, and the States Parties in the Pacific reviewed and adjusted the Pacific Action Plan 2010-2015 in Apia, Samoa, in September 2011, based on the outcomes of Periodic Reporting to reorient the efforts to address their identified factors and specific needs.

The lack of resources will be the significant challenge for the implementation of the Action Plans. To date, some State Parties have pledged to organise sub-regional workshops on various topics, whilst State Parties have already organized national workshops or developed national plans.Periodic Reporting has provided an opportunity to know about the most updated information on what is happening with the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and the state of conservation of all the properties in Asia and the Pacific. The outcome of the Periodic Reporting must be fully utilized to ensure the action plans are implement during the near future.

i. The Suwon Action Plan

The Suwon Action Plan identified the priority issues for entire Asia region, as well as the sub-regions:

• All States Parties unanimously agreed that the development, review, and implementation of effective management plans/systems is of paramount important and these should correspond with Outstanding Universal Value of the individual properties, and where possible time bound action plans for implementation should be established. 
• All States Parties in Asia agreed that the issue of disaster risk reduction and risk preparedness is among the top priorities for attention in the region. 
• States Parties in Asia all agreed that regional cooperation is currently lacking and needs improvement; this is to be achieved through the establishment of network for all focal points and site managers.
• Most sub-regions in Asia expressed the importance of greater community involvement and benefit sharing.

ii. The Pacific Action Plan

The States Parties in the Pacific agreed that actions that will be taken under the Pacific Action Plan 2010-2015 should be oriented to address five major factors that are adversely affecting all properties in some aspect; (invasive/alien species, climate change and severe weather events, service infrastructure, loss of social and cultural use of heritage, and transportation infrastructure) and five training priorities (conservation, education, risk preparedness, visitor management, and community outreach).