Decision 38 COM 7B.9

Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains (China) (C 705)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined document WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.60 adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Strongly regrets that the project to raise the Yuzhen Palace was not brought to the attention of the World Heritage Committee in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines ;
4. Takes note of the report of the 2014 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM reactive monitoring mission to the property and the assessment made that the project, while altering the setting and context of the Yuzhen Palace, does not constitute a threat to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the overall property;
5. Notes the recommendations of the mission in regard to the final shape of the earthwork platform, the final disposition of the archaeological remains, and the eventual landscaping, interpretation, and use of the palace, and requests the State Party to implement those recommendations in the final implementation of the project;
6. Also notes the ongoing work on the finalization of the Master Plan on Conservation Management of the property and also requests that the work on this plan be completed as soon as possible for submission to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
7. Urges the State Party to institute a living heritage approach to the management of the property which ensures that it is managed as a cultural landscape in order to protect the OUV of the 62 component parts within their overall landscape setting and context;
8. Invites the State Party to clarify with the World Heritage Centre that the buffer zone of the property corresponds to the entirety of the Wudang Mountains National Scenic Area as acknowledged at the time of inscription, and not the 62 individual buffer zones submitted in the framework of the retrospective inventory exercise;
9. Also urges the State Party to protect against the overdevelopment of tourism at the property, and in particular to enforce rules related to carrying capacity for the more fragile sites that are part of the property;
10. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre by 1 December 2015, a report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.