Decision 42 COM 7B.51

Stone Town of Zanzibar (United Republic of Tanzania) (C 173rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 35 COM 7B.45, 36 COM 7B.49, 38 COM 7B.55, 39 COM 7B.45 and 40 COM 7B.21, adopted at its 35th (UNESCO, 2011), 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 38th (Doha, 2014), 39th (Bonn, 2015) and its 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) sessions respectively,
3. Welcomes with satisfaction the development of the Department of Urban and Rural Planning (DoURP) Ng’ambo Local Area Plan and Green Belt proposals, the successful restoration of the Chawl Building, and supports the proposed development of the Hifadhi Zanzibar Majestic Theatre;
4. Notes that the State Party has followed the ICOMOS recommendations regarding Beit el Ajaib (House of Wonders) and requests the State Party to keep the World Heritage Centre informed of all developments regarding the rehabilitation project;
5. Notes with concern that minimum mitigation measures for the Mambo Msiige project, identified by the 2016 mission as non-negotiable minimum, have not all been implemented, while the Tippu Tip House and the Palace Museum remain vulnerable unless urgent measures are taken;
6. Notes with great concern that the Advisory mission of October 2017 considered that none of the factors affecting the property, as listed in the state of conservation reports since 2014, has been addressed successfully and nearly all comments and recommendations made in the 2014 and 2016 mission reports still remain valid today, and moreover that the current Management System, including the 2010 Stone Town Conservation and Development Authority (STCDA) Act, is not being implemented fully, with resultant negative consequences for the property and its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
7. Also notes with satisfaction that the overall state of conservation of the general building stock remains vulnerable and that an overall detailed inventory of the building stock is still lacking whilst welcoming the categorization of some 300 buildings owned by the Zanzibar Housing Corporation (ZHC) and the restoration skills training undertaken;
8. Expresses its concern that major development projects have not been notified to the World Heritage Centre and reiterates its request to the State Party to submit details for the Malindi Container Port and Tippu Tip House projects before any implementation is undertaken, development rights granted or fundraising started, in the light of their high potential impact on the OUV of the property, and submit for review the World Monument Fund Report for the Palace Museum Restoration;
9. Also requests the State Party to:
   1. Halt as a matter of urgency the extensive Bwawani Hotel Redevelopment Plan (including proposals for the sea front, Funguni Lagoon and Blue Mosque), in view of its highly negative and irreversible potential impact on OUV,
   2. Clarify the current status of rights to development granted on the entire area and submit this, also as a matter of urgency, to the World Heritage Centre,
   3. Protect the remains of the Bwawani Hotel, and its sea front and the Funguni Lagoon as public open spaces,
   4. Further develop appropriate plans for the Bwawani Hotel complex for submission to the World Heritage Centre for review,
   5. Halt the current Darajani Bazaar project as it will have an adverse effect on the OUV of the property, and to develop a new project, based on the principles contained in the DoURP Ng’ambo Local Area Plan and the Green Belt proposals;
10. Also expresses its concern at the failure to provide project proposals and final details for the Mizingani Sea Wall project as requested in 2010, 2011 and 2016;
11. Further expresses its concern that the overall weaknesses highlighted by the 2017 Advisory mission reflect the previous concerns of the Committee and could warrant consideration for inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger, under paragraphs 178 and 179 of the Operational Guidelines;
12. Urges the State Party to take the following actions to address these problems and, in light of their complexity and diversity and the range of stakeholders and actors involved, recommends that a cross-cutting Task Team be set up as recommended by the 2017 mission for a defined period of minimum five years with the mandate to:
    1. Address the ‘Procedures to Adequately Control Development and Promote Conservation’,
    2. Implement the outstanding recommendations of the 2014 and 2016 missions,
    3. Guide the development of the new integrated Conservation Management Plan (CMP) and its coordination into all spatial local and regional plans,
       and invites the State Party to submit the terms of reference of the CMP for review;
13. Further requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission to the property in 2019 to assess the overall state of conservation of the property and in particular, progress with the formation of a Task Team;
14. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, a report on the state of conservation of the property, and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020; with a view to maintaining the OUV of the property.