Decision 38 COM 7B.21

Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications (Sri Lanka) (C 451)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 34 COM 7B.72, 35 COM 7B.78, 36 COM 7B.68 and 37 COM 7B.67 adopted at its 34th (Brasilia, 2010), 35th (UNESCO, 2011), 36th (Saint-Petersburg, 2012) and 37th (Phnom Penh) sessions respectively,
3. Acknowledges that the State Party has provided further information on the proposed Port project including cross sections and photo-montages, but regrets that these have not been submitted in sufficient detail to allow a full assessment of the potential impact of the proposed port on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property and also notes that a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) has not been undertaken as requested, with a technical study to ascertain potential impacts on the underwater archaeology;
4. Encourages the State Party to invite an ICOMOS advisory mission to the property, to be financed by the State Party, in order to consider the potential impact of the Port project, and requests the State Party, in advance of such a mission, to provide large scale plans, photo-montages of a high resolution, and to have made progress on a HIA and technical underwater archaeological studies;
5. Expresses its concern that the State Party’s report has only addressed the Port and has not responded to other requests of the World Heritage Committee;
6. Reiterates it request to the State Party to formally submit the proposals for the revision of the buffer zone and reiterates its encouragement to the State Party to consider an extension of the property to cover the maritime archaeology of the bay;
7. Urges the State Party to make progress with reinforcing the overall management system for the property through the operationalising the cross-departmental functions of the Galle Heritage Foundation in order to strengthen coordination with other conservation and development authorities, as recommended by the 2010 reactive monitoring mission;
8. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, an updated 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.