Decision 42 COM 7B.67

Wadi Rum Protected Area (Jordan) (C/N 1377)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.65, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Notes with appreciation progress made by the State Party in addressing the recommendations made by the 2014 Reactive Monitoring mission, despite facing financial and technical challenges;
4. Requests the State Party to keep the World Heritage Centre informed about plans for the development of a wastewater treatment plant, and on the development of a land use plan for the buffer zone;
5. Encourages the State Party to continue pursuing collaboration with national and international institutions for achieving the highest standards in science- and evidence-based decision-making related to the management of the property;
6. Urges once again the State Party to address the issue of tourist camps and other camp-like installations within the property, to rehabilitate any areas that may have been degraded, and to establish procedures and regulations that will ensure a permanent resolution of the issue;
7. Notes that the State Party has initiated the integration of the cultural heritage database currently under development with the natural heritage database into one compatible GIS (Geographic Information System) database, to support and facilitate the integrated monitoring and management of the cultural and natural attributes of the property, and also encourages this work to be completed expeditiously;
8. Reiterates its request to the State Party to ensure that the revised Integrated Management Plan (IMP) provides references to legal measures and policies, backed by the necessary staff and financial resources, to enable effective management of the property and its buffer zone, and also requests the State Party to include in the revised IMP a cultural heritage management strategy to enable a consistent conservation approach for all cultural sites within the property;
9. Further requests the State Party to actively pursue the implementation of all recommendations of the 2014 mission, particularly with regards to carrying out assessment of tourism activities through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) in and around the property;
10. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, 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 44th session in 2020.