Decision 38 COM 7B.46

Historic Centre of the City of Arequipa (Peru) (C 1016)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.101, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Takes note of the significant progress made by the State Party in addressing the final delimitation of boundaries and buffer zone, and the completion of the Risk preparedness plan and the Master Plan of the Historic Centre of Arequipa;
4. Urges the State Party to complete the process of final approval and implementation of the new boundaries for the property as well as for its Master Plan and Risk preparedness plan;
5. Invites the State Party to submit, according to paragraphs 163-165 of the Operational Guidelines, the final proposal for the buffer zone as a minor boundary modification to enhance the protection of the visually sensitive areas around the property;
6. Notes with strong concern that work has started on the construction of the Chilina Bridge, one of the components of the project Via Troncal Interconectora, without the completion of a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) as requested by the World Heritage Committee at its last three sessions;
7. Reiterates its request to the State Party to undertake, an HIA encompassing all the components of the Via Troncal Interconectora project, including the assessment of potential impacts on the landscape areas of Lari Lari, Los Tucos, Cayma and Yanahuara and an action plan to mitigate the visual impacts and requests the State Party to complete and submit these studies to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, prior to any approval or implementation of the entire project;
8. Also requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to the property to consider the assessments of potential impacts of the Via Local Interconectora project, as well as the development of an action plan to mitigate negative impacts;
9. Further requests the State Party to complete the review of the Metropolitan Development Plan in order to rationalize inconsistencies with the Master Plan of the property and confirm whether or not this plan is to be regarded as the management plan for the property, requested by the World Heritage Committee to ensure the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property;
10. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015, a progress report and, by 1 December 2015, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, both reports including a 1-page executive summary, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.