Case Law

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 37 COM 8B.11, 38 COM 8B.7 and 40 COM 7B.88, adopted at its 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013), 38th (Doha, 2014) and 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) sessions, respectively,
3. Welcomes the ongoing efforts of the State Party to significantly extend the property and, in particular, initiate the process to merge Khirganga National Park with Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (GHNPCA) and encourages the State Party to proceed with the creation of a significantly expanded conservation complex in the Indian Western Himalaya under the World Heritage Convention, with the technical support of the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, as required;
4. Recalls that the intended extension would require a Significant Boundary Modification in line with Paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines and would follow procedures similar to a new nomination, including the requirement for any proposed areas to be previously included on the Tentative List;
5. Also welcomes continuous efforts to strengthen the involvement of local communities and indigenous peoples and requests the State Party to ensure meaningful involvement of local stakeholders and rights holders in the governance and management, including in the process of enlarging the property;
6. Reiterates its encouragement to the State Party to fully involve local resource users in decision-making to find mutually acceptable ways to resolve any ongoing resource use conflicts, while respecting any rights of use, and also requests the State Party to conduct an assessment of the impacts from existing resource use (in particular grazing and collection of medicinal plants) on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property to help establish a basis for such decision-making;
7. Notes that a decision was made by the State Party not to re-categorize Tirthan and Sainj Wildlife Sanctuaries as national parks on the grounds of avoiding a relocation of villages;
8. Regrets that the State Party did not provide sufficient information to allow for an assessment of its response to deficiencies identified in a Management Effectiveness Assessment and reiterates its request to the State Party to report on:
   1. Transit of livestock through the property,
   2. The process to recognize the rights of local communities in Jiwanal Valley,
   3. Consolidation of management of the Parvati Valley,
   4. Human-wildlife conflicts,
   5. Adequate levels of staffing, equipment and training for patrolling in high-altitude terrain;
9. Further welcomes the reaffirmed commitment of the State Party to undertake a regional comparative study of natural World Heritage potential within the Himalayas and adjacent mountain regions, and also encourages the full consideration of the property, including its envisaged extension, and reiterates its recommendation to the State Party to consult with other relevant States Parties from the region on this matter and seek technical support of the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, as required;
10. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 45th session in 2021.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7B.Add.2,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.75, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Notes with appreciation the State Party’s ongoing commitment and efforts aimed at the preservation of the critically endangered vaquita and totoaba, particularly through the establishment of an unprecedented level of cooperation between different national authorities, including the Mexican Navy and regrets that the Integral Strategy for the Protection of the vaquita has not delivered the expected results and that illegal fisheries are still threatening both totoaba, as the target, and vaquita, as bycatch;
4. Notes with utmost concern the conclusions of the 2017 joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission that the decline of the critically endangered vaquita has continued to an estimated 30 individuals, therefore putting it at risk of imminent extinction and that the main cause of its mortality is entanglement in illegal gillnets;
5. Notes the confirmation of the mission that other attributes of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) remain in good condition and that the State Party has started the implementation of the most urgent recommendations made by the mission;
6. Also notes the adoption of a joint Decree by the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources and the Secretary of Agriculture that permanently bans gillnets use in the vaquita area, while prohibiting night fishing and enforcing control and monitoring of small vessels; and further notes that the State Party signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Leonardo DiCaprio and Carlos Slim Foundations seeking at working with communities to promote sustainable fishing practices and remove illegal fishing gear from the vaquita habitat;
7. Urges the State Party to ensure fully effective implementation and enforcement of the recently established permanent ban on gillnets use, sale, manufacture and possession at sea and on land within the Vaquita Refuge and the current gillnet and longline suspension zone and in the adjacent land areas;
8. Also urges the State Party to fully implement the programme on development of alternative gear for legal fisheries which would not cause bycatch of vaquita and other marine mammal species, sharks and turtles;
9. Welcomes the initial efforts by the State Party aimed at strengthening cooperation with State Parties that are transit and destination countries for the illegal trade of totoaba swim bladder, and reiterates its calls to other States Parties to support the State Party of Mexico to halt this illegal trade, in particular through the implementation of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);
10. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring Mission to the property to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the recently adopted measures for the protection of the threatened vaquita;
11. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2018, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018, with a view to considering, in the case of the absence of significant progress in the implementation of the above, the inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.76, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Welcomes progress made by the State Party on removing feral livestock from Coiba Island and introducing amendments to ensure that legislation continues to be in place prohibiting development (apart from low-impact infrastructure for ecotourism and scientific research) within the property;
4. Also welcomes the development of a Public Use Plan (PUP) for the property and requests the State Party to finalize it by 1 February 2018, ensuring that it clearly improves the visitor experience to the island without expanding the space occupied by existing infrastructure, and sets out a biosecurity plan, and submit the draft PUP to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN, as part of the updated report on the state of conservation of the property;
5. Notes the information that measures to operationalize the Coiba Fund are expected to be completed by mid-2017 and urges the State Party to adhere to this deadline;
6. Notes with increasing concern the conclusions of the 2016 IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission that while the terrestrial component of the property appears to be well preserved with previously identified threats gradually diminishing, the management of its marine component continues to face significant challenges, with declines having been reported for some key marine values, and with little progress reported in the implementation of the Committee’s requests related to the management and control of fisheries, and also urges the State Party to implement these requests as a matter of utmost priority;
7. Also requests the State Party to fully implement all recommendations of the 2014 and 2016 missions;
8. Takes note of the proposed draft regulations for the Special Zone of Marine Protection (SZMP), but notes with utmost concern that they include provisions for types of activities that would be incompatible with the World Heritage status of the property, particularly industrial fishing, and further urges the State Party to revise the proposed draft to ensure that no such activities are permitted within the property, and to submit the revised draft regulations for the SZMP to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN;
9. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2018, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018, with a view to considering, in the absence of substantial progress in protecting the property from unsustainable fisheries, the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.62, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. Welcomes the progress made on implementing the recommendations of the 2014 joint Reactive Monitoring mission, as well as towards the application for the Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) designation of the property and its surrounding areas and encourages the State Party to pursue its efforts to submit a completed application to the International Maritime Organization in February 2017;
4. Encourages the State Party to continue involving the local communities in the management and conservation of the property;
5. Notes that no oil or mining exploration permits are attributed within the property and that the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) plan is in process, but expresses its concern about potential impacts if any of the ongoing exploration projects lead to exploitation, in particular, in oil blocks close to the property;
6. Requests the State Party to ensure that all future projects that could impact on the property are subject to an assessment of their impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), in line with IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment, and to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN:
   1. A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of developments at Chami, in order to identify measures to avoid and where necessary mitigate impacts on the OUV of the property,
   2. EIAs for any future developments at the Tasiast gold mine and for off-shore oil exploitation;
7. Also requests the State Party to provide data on local and non-local use of the Nouamghar road collected by the new control points to ascertain that the road is not impacting on the OUV, in particular marine resources, of the property;
8. Further requests the State Party to fully implement all recommendations made by the 2014 mission, in particular:
   1. Ensure the sustainability of the current suveillance system, and maintain the ban on fishing by the non-Imraguen communities, and on fishing by motorized boats,
   2. In consultation with scientific organisations and the Imraguen local communitiy, address the problem of fishing of endangered species (sharks and rays) in order to guarantee their conservation; additional studies to identify any pressures on populations of turtles (reproductive and migratory) within the park also desirable,
   3. Put in place a permit system in order to prevent fishing pressure related to the immigration of non-resident communities which have come to fish,
   4. Undertake research to determine the effects of overfishing outside the property on the biodiversity located within the property, and reinforce measures to ensure the sustainability of fisheries located outside the property but in Mauritanian waters, in particular through regional and international cooperation;
9. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2017, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.8 adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Welcomes the significant progress achieved by the State Party and its partners since the inscription of the property in terms of its protection and management, in particular the strengthening of its legal framework, the creation of a functional management authority and management system and the management of fishing inside the property which restricts fishing to the local Imraguen communities using only traditional methods and an efficient surveillance system;
4. Takes note of the conclusion of the reactive monitoring mission that so far, the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property has been preserved in part thanks to its isolation but that the region is undergoing rapid changes characterized by numerous planned infrastructure developments;
5. Notes with concern the many infrastructure projects being developed around the property, which could potentially impact on its OUV, and requests the State Party not to authorize infrastructure inside the property or in its vicinity, without having conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in conformity with IUCN’s “World Heritage Advice Note: Environmental Assessment” and to ensure that all EIAs are validated by the Scientific Council of the property and submitted to the World Heritage Centre prior to making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines ;
6. Expresses its utmost concern about the road to Mamghar, which presents a serious threat to the integrity of the property and is impacting on its cultural values, and urges the State Party to ensure that its use is restricted to mitigate its impact and that a system of control of access to the property is put in place;
7. Also requests the State Party to ensure that the draft EIA for the water sourcing system linked to the extension of the Tasiast mine is completed to assess its potential impacts on the OUV of the property, and submitted to the World Heritage Centre prior to making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
8. Appreciates the fact that no oil or mining exploration permits were attributed within the property, but also expresses concern about potential impacts if any of the on-going exploration projects lead to exploitation, in particular, in oil blocks close to the property where exploratory drilling is going forward in 2014;
9. Also welcomes the initiative to conduct a “Territorial Diagnostic” in order to assess the cumulative impacts of the different planned development projects on the property, and further requests the State Party to develop on the basis of this study a strategic vision for the development of the region which ensures the conservation of the OUV of the property;
10. Requests furthermore the State Party to implement all other recommendations of the 2014 joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN reactive monitoring mission and take them into account in the development of the new management plan, in particular:
    1. Ensure the sustainability of the fishing surveillance system, maintain the restrictions on fishing foreseen in the law and develop an agreement with all stakeholders to limit the catch of threatened fish species, in particular rays and sharks,
    2. Create a residence permit system to ensure that fishing rights are restricted to the local population, as well as to ensure that no new villages develop in the park,
    3. Update urgently the emergency MARPOL plan to ensure that an operational system is in place to address a potential oil spill,
    4. Submit to the International Maritime Organization the request to designate Banc d’Arguin region as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area,
    5. Put in place a system of shared governance involving all stakeholders, including reviving the Board of the Park, its Scientific Council and the participatory management process and reinforcing its cooperation with its technical and financial partners,
    6. Link the funding for the property from the trust fund to the management effectiveness of the site and the conservation of its OUV;
11. Requests moreover the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the recommendations of the mission, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.31, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Welcomes the State Party’s progress with the removal of the livestock from the property and encourages the State Party to fully implement its commitment to have all livestock removed from the property by end 2014;
4. Also welcomes the State Party’s progress with the development and implementation of biosafety measures and naval staff training and encourages the State Party to remain vigilant in ensuring that the naval base does not become a threat to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
5. Notes the conclusion of the joint 2014 World Heritage Centre/IUCN reactive monitoring mission that the property remains under pressure, and requests the State Party to implement all its recommendations;
6. Expresses its concern about the negative impact of fisheries, and in particular illegal and sport fisheries, on the OUV of the property, and urges the State Party to complete and implement the management plan for the Special Zone of Marine Protection (SZMP) as a matter of priority, which should include clear regulations related to fisheries management, including no-take zones and seasonal closures of critical areas, such as Hannibal Bank, Montuosa Island and Uva Island, and also requests the State Party to provide an electronic copy and three printed copies of the draft management plan for the SZMP as soon as it is available, for review by the World Heritage Centre and IUCN;
7. Further requests the State Party to rigorously ensure that no development will be permitted within the boundaries of the property, and that cumulative and combined impacts on the property’s OUV caused by mainland developments are effectively addressed;
8. Also urges the State Party to ensure the Coiba Fund becomes fully operational at the earliest time possible and the decision-making power of the Executive Council is strengthened, by including representatives from the tourism sector and the local communities from the coastal areas opposite the property;
9. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015 an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the progress made with the implementation of the recommendation of the reactive monitoring mission, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016