Decision 40 COM 7B.6

National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers (Haïti) (C 180)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 34 COM 7B.110, 35 COM 7B.125, 36 COM 99, 37 COM 98, 38 COM 7B.44, adopted at its 34th (Brasilia, 2010), 35th (UNESCO, 2011), 36th (Saint-Petersburg, 2012), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) and 38th (Doha, 2014) sessions respectively,
3. Also recalling the numerous Reactive Monitoring and Advisory missions reports that all contain comprehensive sets of recommendations to the State Party on the conservation, management and sustainable development of the property,
4. Appreciates the efforts made by the State Party to provide follow-up to the 2013 and the 2015 missions and particularly welcomes the appointment of a Director and technical staff of the Park, the progress in conservation actions and the advances made in the management of the property and the undertaking of technical studies;
5. Expresses its concern however about the serious delays in matters that are essential for the management and conservation of the property, such as the definition of the buffer zone and the preparation of the Management and Conservation Plans and urges the State Party to complete these actions as a matter of urgency, and to submit these plans along with the study “Proposal for Tourism Development at the National Historic Park” by 1 February 2017 to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
6. Specifically recalling its Decision 34 COM 7B.110 requesting the State Party to “halt the construction of Route RN003 within the limits of the property pending the development of other alternatives to be evaluated, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines”, expresses its utmost concern that, in spite of its recommendations to the State Party over the past five years, no progress has been made in the decision-making about the deviation of National Highway n°3 and the character and traffic load of the “Park Road”;
7. Also urges the State Party not to initiate any works of rehabilitation of the section of National Highway n°3 within the limits of the Park and requests it to submit to the World Heritage Centre, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, the technical project for the improvement of the existing road within the Park, including its route, the engineering work for the canalization of the river, the type of asphalt and the width of the route, for review by the Advisory Bodies, before any works are undertaken;
8. Reiterates that cultural heritage and landscape expertise should be included in the feasibility studies and that Environmental and Heritage Impact Assessments (EIAs/HIAs) are indispensable to evaluate the impact of major interventions to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, and also requests the State Party to complete such assessments in relation to National Highway n°3 and the “Park Road” in accordance with ICOMOS Guidance on HIAs for World Cultural Heritage, and any other major interventions that may be planned, and to submit these assessments together with the above-mentioned technical project before any works are undertaken;
9. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2017, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018.