VII.29 Chan Chan Archaeological Zone (Peru)
The Secretariat informed the Committee that it had received, on 27 November 1997, a report from the Peruvian authorities on the actions and programmes implemented between 1985 and 1997 for the conservation and management of the site, as well as on tourism infrastructure and educational activities. It also informed the Committee of the recommendations of an ICOMOS expert mission regarding the need to establish a management plan, the importance of the Earthen Architecture Research Centre at Chan Chan and the need to carefully monitor the phenomenon El Nino and its impact on the site.
The Delegate of Peru stressed that all actions undertaken by his Government were performed in accordance to national law and the Government's commitments under Article 5.d. of the World Heritage Convention. With regard to recovery of the intangible zone, he reported that the re-location of illegal occupants was well underway. On the preventive emergency measures vis-à-vis the El Nino phenomenon , he informed that the Government of Peru had allocated a special fund of US$ 200,000 for this purpose. In this context, he thanked the Committee for the emergency assistance of US$ 50,000 that had been approved by the Chairperson as a contribution to these measures.
ICCROM stressed its interest in a continued collaboration with the Peruvian Government in the preservation and management of the site as a follow-up to the course on the conservation and management of earthen architectural and archaeological heritage that took place in Chan Chan in 1996 in co-operation with ICCROM, the Getty Conservation Institute, CRATerre and the National Institute for Culture, and which developed a new approach to the management of adobe sites.
The Committee took note of the information provided by the Secretariat and the Delegate of Peru. It expressed its concern about the possible impact that the El Nino phenomenon might have on this fragile site and commended and supported the efforts of the Peruvian Government to take the necessary emergency measures for its protection.
The Committee urged the Government of Peru to proceed with the preparation of a management plan for Chan Chan and to submit a progress report by 15 April 1998 for examination by the Bureau at its twenty-second session.
The Committee decided to retain the Chan Chan Archaeological Zone on the List of World Heritage in Danger.