Decision 40 COM 7B.50

Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia) (C 95bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 22 COM VII.17 and 38 COM 7B.25, adopted at its 22nd (Kyoto, 1998) and 38th (Doha 2014) sessions respectively,
3. Expresses its concern regarding inappropriate conservation works of all parts of the City Walls and requests the State Party to implement all relevant measures, including repairs of damage and development of guidelines on best conservation practices, to prevent any threat to the structural stability of the City Walls, and to ensure strict and regular monitoring;
4. Endorses the recommendations of the 2015 joint UNESCO/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property and also requests the State Party to give the highest priority to the implementation of its recommendations, notably to:
   1. Develop and submit to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies the Management Plan of the property, including a tourism strategy, legal regulations for cruise ship tourism, identification of the sustainable carrying capacity of the city, a risk-preparedness action plan and an interpretation strategy,
   2. Not to proceed with the Bosanka 2 project, nor to construct the Lazeretto; Quay/Landing Stage with connection to the Old Port,
   3. Submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2017, a minor boundary modification proposal with a view to expanding the buffer zone as recommended by the mission,
   4. Finalize and submit the retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (SOUV) for the property to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2017, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 41st session in 2017;
5. Taking note of the current status of the Sports and Recreation Centre with a Golf Course and the Bosanka North and Bosanka South Tourist Resorts project planned for the plateau of Mount Srđ and Bosanka in the vicinity of the property, considers that the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) demonstrates that, subject to design refinement, the proposed Sports and Recreation Centre with a Golf Course and the Bosanka North and Bosanka South Tourist Resorts would have an acceptable effect on the OUV of the property, and further requests the State Party to:
   1. Facilitate revisions to the plans and drawings for the project to ensure that no construction is to take place within a minimum distance of 50m from the edges of the plateau,
   2. Continue the dialogue with the Advisory Bodies as the Resorts project progresses,
   3. Submit amended plans for the project to the World Heritage Centre in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, for review by the Advisory Bodies before construction works begin,
   4. Submit relevant documentation, including HIAs, to the World Heritage Centre, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, before any final decisions are made or any works start, for major developments projects within the property, its buffer zone and setting;
6. Finally 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.