The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its last session (Kyoto, 1998) was informed that the construction of the Guamote-Macos road was the main threat to this Park and an EIA had not been conducted. Construction has been slow but very destructive of the environment. Only a small section of the road is inside the World Heritage site; the remainder of the road forms the Park’s southern boundary. The Committee noted that, in the latter half of 1998, economic constraints had led to a halt in road construction activities and some positive developments with regard to the state of conservation of Sangay National Park were evident: colonization and small-scale mining activities had stopped since 1997; and a 5-year, US$ 1.6 million conservation project, financed by the Government of the Netherlands and jointly implemented by WWF and Fundacion Natura, had begun. The Delegate of Ecuador informed the Committee that his Government had submitted to the Centre several new documents, including the “Strategic Management Plan for the Sangay National Park” and it had not issued any permits for oil exploration in Sangay. The Delegate welcomed a Centre/IUCN mission to Sangay in 1999.
The Bureau was informed that in response to an invitation from the Government of Ecuador, via its letter of 4 March 1999 to the Centre, a mission led by IUCN experts and comprising paticipants from WWF, Fundacion Natura and the Ministry for the Environment of Ecuador had visited Sangay National Park from 10 to 14 June 1999. The report of the mission was tabled as Information Document INF.17. This report noted a number of positive developments at this site, but considered that it should stay on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Bureau noted that the mission report has been made available only at the time of its session and that the State Party needed time to review the report and respond to the findings and recommendations of the report.
The Bureau invited the State Party to submit its response to the findings and recommendations of the mission report to the Centre before 15 September 1999. The Bureau requested the Centre and IUCN to review the response from the State Party and submit a set of recommendations on the state of conservation of Sangay, including whether or not Sangay should be retained in the List of World Heritage in Danger, for examination by the Committee at its twenty-third session in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 29 November to 4 Decemebr 1999.