Decision 41 COM 7B.23

Socotra Archipelago (Yemen) (N 1263)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.86, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Reiterates its significant concern that the vulnerability of the property to pressures from unsustainable resource use, soil erosion and habitat degradation is likely to have increased following the impacts of the cyclones, and recalls its request to the State Party to ensure that the road network in the property is not expanded;
4. Calls on all UNESCO Member States to support emergency safeguarding measures, including through the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund;
5. Recalls the State Party’s commitment expressed in 2016 that the rehabilitation of the sea port, which was damaged by the cyclones, would be limited to restoring it to its previous condition, and would not include any extensions;
6. Requests the State Party and to provide further information on the development projects on Socotra to the World Heritage Centre and on alleged military operations, for review by IUCN, prior to taking any decisions regarding their implementation that would be difficult to reverse, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
7. Also requests the State Party to ensure that any development on Socotra, including humanitarian aid-related development, is subject to a rigorous assessment of impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, in line with IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment, and to submit a copy of the completed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN;
8. Reiterates its request to the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess its state of conservation, including in view of the impacts from the cyclones, and to support the State Party in identifying priorities for rehabilitation and management activities;
9. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 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 42nd session in 2018.