Decision 41 COM 7B.12

Area de Conservación Guanacaste (Costa Rica) (N 928bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 39 COM 7B.29, adopted at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015),
3. Commends the State Party on the comprehensive reporting on multiple threats to the property and on its efforts to balance renewable energy and biodiversity conservation objectives;
4. Also commends the State Party on its commitment to consider the property off limits to geothermal development, and requests it to unambiguously confirm that no facilities associated with the projects are or will be located within the boundaries of the property, and to submit to the World Heritage Centre clear maps showing the exact location of all existing facilities;
5. Notes with concern the multiple threats to the property reported by the State Party, and the limited availability of financial and human resources to enable adequate management responses, and therefore also requests the State Party to ensure that appropriate actions are undertaken to address or mitigate these threats and to reinforce the resources available to support this endeavour;
6. Also notes with concern the reported extraction of parrots for the pet trade, and the collection of turtle eggs, and in particular the noted decline in mass nesting (arribada) of Olive Ridley turtles, which may impact the property’s Outstanding Universal Value as recognized under criterion (x), and further requests the State Party to provide more information on the measures foreseen to address these issues and to undertake further studies regarding the dynamics of these mass nesting events;
7. Requests furthermore the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to evaluate the state of conservation of the property and in particular to review the current and potential impacts of multiple and serious threats to the property, and exchange in more depth with the State Party and other stakeholders, as appropriate, about the option to formally establish a buffer zone;
8. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2018, 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 43rd session in 2019.