Decision 40 COM 7B.86

Socotra Archipelago (Yemen) (N 1263)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 39 COM 7B.6, adopted at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015),
3. Expresses its sincere condolences to the State Party and the inhabitants of Socotra for the damages and loss of life caused by the passage of cyclones Chapala and Megh, which ravaged the island in November 2015;
4. Commends the State Party for the progress achieved with the implementation of the 2012 mission recommendations, despite the challenges resulting from the current security situation in mainland Yemen, and welcomes in particular the appointment of a Deputy Governor for Environment and Development, the initiatives taken to strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in the management of the property, and the ongoing consideration of a policy to cancel all previous decisions to expand main access roads within the property;
5. Also welcomes the support provided by international donors and partners for the conservation of the archipelago’s biodiversity and the sustainable development of its communities;
6. Reiterates its significant concern over the increased vulnerability of the property due to the security situation in mainland Yemen, considers that the impacts of the recent cyclones are likely to have further increased the property’s vulnerability to pressures from unsustainable resource use, soil erosion and habitat degradation, notes that these impacts require further and urgent assessment, and calls on the international community to support Yemen in implementing the actions identified in the Needs Assessment for Socotra Archipelago World Heritage site, developed in February 2016, at the workshop hosted by the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH);
7. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess its state of conservation, in particular in view of the impacts from wood cutting, overgrazing, unsustainable use of marine and terrestrial resources, and the impacts from the cyclones, and to support the State Party in identifying priorities for rehabilitation and management activities;
8. Encourages the State Party to hire, as soon as it is feasible to do so, a professional specialized company to assess the possibilities of and risks involved in salvaging the two ships grounded inside the property near Haulafe and take appropriate measures to restore any damages caused by their grounding;
9. Urges the State Party to promote the revival of traditional land management practices including seasonal transhumance in an effort to reduce threats from soil erosion and habitat degradation as a result of overgrazing, and to ensure the enforcement of the archipelago’s protected area regulations and its zoning plan, in order to address threats from unsustainable resource use both in the terrestrial and marine environments;
10. Further requests the State Party to continue its efforts to implement all recommendations of the 2012 mission;
11. Requests moreover 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.