The Secretariat informed the Bureau that the Permanent Delegation of Portugal had submitted on 5 May 2000, a report concerning the state of conservation of Sintra which was transmitted to IUCN and ICOMOS for review. ICOMOS expressed reservations about the state of conservation of the site and indicated that a joint ICOMOS-IUCN mission would be required. Both IUCN and the Observer of Portugal endorsed this proposal. The latter informed the Bureau that Sintra, because of its location, 20 km from Lisbon, was under strong pressure (urban development, tourism).
The Bureau, therefore, requested ICOMOS and IUCN to undertake a joint mission to Sintra to examine the state of conservation of the cultural landscape of Sintra and to submit a report to the twenty-fourth extraordinary session of the Bureau.