ICOMOS informed of a letter recently received from the Pueblo Governing Council. ICOMOS reviewed the concerns of the Tribal authorities over proposals to extend the runway of the Taos, New Mexico, Airport and confirmed that such action could pose serious problems for the protection of the site and its environment, as well as traditional lifestyles of the Taos people. The Bureau agreed with this assessment and requested the Secretariat to convey its concerns to the U.S. authorities together with a request for additional information.
Sites: Taos Pueblo
The Bureau was deeply concerned to learn that due to recent political uncertainties in the country all donors, except WWF, have withdrawn their support to this Park. This has resulted in destruction of vegetation, poaching, agricultural encroachment and over-exploitation of fish populations in Lake Idi Amin. Since November 1992, the Park staff has not received salaries, and funds for operations and maintenance are not available. Several new settlements have appeared in the Park, particularly around Lake Idi Amin, and some gold mining and livestock grazing have also been reported.
The ...
Sites: Virunga National Park
The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its last session, noted that the authorities responsible for the management of this site are of the view that the proposed construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Tara River and the pollution of the River by an asphalt dam situated upstream had minimal impacts on the conservation of Durmitor National Park. The Bureau acknowledged the fact that the Montenegro authorities had invited a UNESCO/IUCN mission to the site and that this mission should be undertaken as early as possible in order to ensure the conservation of this World Heritage site. ...
Sites: Durmitor National Park
The Committee, at its sixteenth session, inscribed the Angkor site, together with its monuments and archaeological zones, as described in the "Perimeter de Protection" accompanying the ICOMOS report, on the World Heritage List. The Committee, however, noted that Cambodia had been placed under the temporary administration of the United Nations, in accordance with the Paris Accords, since July 1991. In order to deal quickly and effectively with the urgent problems of conservation facing this site, the Committee decided to include Angkor in the List of World Heritage in Danger and requested ...
Sites: Angkor
At its fifteenth session held in Carthage in December 1991, the Committee inscribed the Old City of Dubrovnik on the List of World Heritage in Danger. At the sixteenth session of the Bureau in July 1992, it was recommended that the Croatian authorities create a buffer zone in order to ensure the protection of the ancient fortress and the surrounding areas.
Since the last session of the Committee, two brochures on Dubrovnik have been published in order to publicize the plan to safeguard the Fortress and the Old City, damaged by bombardment, and also with the aim of raising funds. Specific ...
Sites: Old City of Dubrovnik
The Bureau took note of the report on the poor state of conservation of the Kefren Pyramid and endorsed the Centre's recommendation that the Egyptian Antiquities Organization be approached with a view to convening a meeting of specialists in stone conservation in cooperation with ICRROM to examine the state of conservation of this and other pyramids at this World Heritage site.
The Bureau expressed its concern about the deteriorating situation of the monuments of Islamic Cairo and took note of UNDP's disposition to launch a technical assistance project to be executed by UNESCO, and supported the World Heritage Centre's participation in this project.
Sites: Historic Cairo
The Delegate of Germany reported on the situation in the old city of Lubeck, and more particularly on the demolition of certain monuments situated in the protected zone and the discovery of mural paintings which are presently being restored. At the invitation of the Mayor of Lübeck, ICOMOS will visit the city and make an evaluation of the situation and present a detailed report to the next session of the World Heritage Committee at Carthagena.
Sites: Hanseatic City of Lübeck
The Bureau learned of the possible threat to this site through the construction of an olive-packing unit. A formal request for additional information has been forwarded to the Greek authorities who replied that permission would not begranted until all prerequisite conditions had been satisfied. The Greek Observer confirmed that the Greek authorities had already been alerted and assured the Bureau that the Committee will be informed on all further decisions taken by them. ICOMOS expressed concern about the construction of the plant that could have a negative impact.
The Bureau was informed that a road construction project, in the immediate vicinity of the Acropolis of Samos, in front of the Tunnel of Eupalinos, was submitted to the Ministry of Culture. The Greek authorities reported that the project is directly under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, which is of the view that the project will not endanger the site or theTunnel. The Greek Observer pointed out that the road construction is still in the project stage and that the final decision has not yet been taken.
The Rapporteur stressed that, for an archaeological site of such ...
The Director of the World Heritage Centre informed the Bureau on a joint mission with ICCROM to the site damaged in the historic centre of Florence by a terrorist bomb which exploded on 27 May 1993.
The explosion caused extensive damage to the "Galleria degli Uffizi" and the "Accademia dei Georgofili". Due to the blast, the building "Torre delle Pulci" collapsed, four people were killed and a fifth victim died in the fire that subsequently broke out The Accademia dei Georgofili, housed in the 16th century Torre delle Pulci, is the oldest Agricultural Society in the world and has the ...
Sites: Historic Centre of Florence
The World Heritage Committee, it its sixteenth session, was informed of the alarming state of conservation of historic buildings and monuments in the Kathmandu Valley. UNESCO and ICOMOS were requested to undertake a global review of the Kathmandu Valley and of the activities undertaken over the past 20 years from the standpoint of safeguarding the cultural heritage of Kathmandu. The objectives of the review were: to draw up broad guidelines for the preservation of the whole valley and to re-examine the boundaries of the protected zone under the Convention.
The UNESCO Division of Physical ...
Sites: Kathmandu Valley
ICOMOS reported on the state of conservation of the site which, despite one million visitors every year, is maintaining an excellent general appearance. However, urgent attention to the oldest trees is envisaged and a systematic management and development plan should be set up to protect the vegetation.
The buildings within the boundary walls of the "Gardens" were reported to be in a good state of repair and well maintained. However, the perimeter brick walls are in poor condition due, in many cases, to improper use of the binder in the repair work, and in others to the substitution of ...
ICOMOS reported on its continuous involvement in the conservation efforts for this site. As a follow-up to the decision of the World Heritage Committee at its sixteenth session, to support the coordination effort undertaken by ICOMOS, a technical study programme has been set up for 1993, including a 5-6 week mission of 5 or 6 experts. These experts will be supported by their respective governments so tilt no professional fees will be paid from the Fund. The results of the mission will be presented by ICOMOS to the World Heritage Committee at its seventeenth session in December 1993.
The ...
Sites: Kizhi Pogost
ICOMOS reported on various factors of a financial and socio-economic nature that threaten the site and hinder its proper conservation. : COMOS reported however, that there is little need to send individual experts or groups of experts on urban heritage, given the comprehensive and carefully reasoned analysis and diagnosis on the conservation problems prepared by the local authorities and group of professionals.
ICOMOS suggested, given the analysis and diagnosis that is already available in Saint Petersburg and other cities in the world, to organize a symposium on heritage conservation in ...
ICOMOS informed the Bureau of the conservation efforts at this site that are linked to training activities for property owners. One problem that still awaits solution is that of traffic through the historic centre, which is a potential source of damage to ancient buildings due to vibration and exhaust pollution. The Bureau requested the Secretariat to draw the attention of the competent authorities in Finland to the desirability of reducing the pressure of through traffic within the designated area
Sites: Old Rauma
Mt. Nimba Nature Reserve (Côte d'Ivoire/Guinea): The Bureau approved a sum of US$ 30,000 for consultancies and other services necessary for setting up a management regime in the Guinean part of this World Heritage site in Danger.
Dja Faunal Reserve (Cameroon): The Bureau recommended that the Committee approve US$ 40,000 for the purchase of two vehicles for this site subject to the Cameroon authorities paying their dues to the World Heritage Fund, providing detailed information to the Centre on projects implemented in this site with national funds and provide assurance to the Committee that the maintenance of the vehicles will be supervised directly by the manager of the Dja Reserve.
School for the Training of Wildlife Specialists (Cameroon): The Bureau recommended that the Committee re-examine this request for ...
Mt. Huangshan (People's Republic of China) - Training in management planning for protected area specialists in China: The Bureau approved a sum of US$ 30,000 for organizing a training workshop in Mt. Huangshan (US$ 20,000) and for supporting the participation of protected area specialists from Asia-Pacific in the CNPPA/IUCN Regional Conference on Protected Areas of East Asia (US$ 10,000) to review the draft management plan of Huangshan prepared as a result of the training ...
Sites: Mount Huangshan
IUCN
The Bureau approved a sum of US$ 18,000 to IUCN for the following purposes:
(a) reimbursement of costs for implementing the Bureau's request, made at its last session in July 1992, for assessing measures taken to mitigate impacts of road construction in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal) US$ 12,000
Preparation of a state of conservation report on sangay National Park by IUCN's Regional Office for Latin America US$ 2,000
Contribution for the preparation, by the IUCN Office in Nepal, of state of conservation reports on Sagarmatha and Royal Chitwan National Parks of Nepal US$ ...