Decision 42 COM 7B.69

Western Tien Shan (Kazakhstan / Kirgizstan / Uzbekistan) (N 1490)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 8B.9, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Regretting that the State Party of Kyrgyzstan did not submit a report on the state of conservation of the Kyrgyz components of the property, recalls that for transboundary properties, States Parties should submit a joint report, rather than individual reports on their national components, and strongly encourages all three States Parties involved in this serial transnational property to submit joint reports in the future;
4. Noting the elaboration of a trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation on protection and management of the property and the delay in signing it, urges all three States Parties to complete the signing of the Memorandum as soon as possible, and requests them to expedite the actions required for its operationalization, particularly with regards to the establishment of a joint steering committee which would assume coordinating functions;
5. Reiterates its request to the States Parties to work in consultation with IUCN to build capacity on transnational management of the property;
6. Notes the information provided by the State Party of Uzbekistan regarding the decrees adopted for the management of the Bashkizilsay and Maydantal areas of the Chatkal Biosphere Reserve component of the property, and requests the State Party to clarify the role of the Uzbekistan National Railway Company in the protection of the property, and to provide more detailed information regarding the changes in the management system resulting from these decrees, and their possible impacts on the conservation of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
7. Also noting the information provided by the State Party of Kazakhstan regarding the revision of the boundaries on the Sayram-Ugam component of the property, expresses its concern that some of the proposed boundary changes would exclude a significant area of the property, to be instead included in its buffer zone, and also recalls that changes to the boundaries should only be proposed with the aim of enhancing representation and protection of the property’s OUV;
8. Also reiterates its request to the States Parties to review and rationalize the boundaries of the components of the property and their buffer zones to ensure that they fully correspond to criterion (x), follow ecological principles and address connectivity, exclude areas originally included for their paleontological values and to develop, as a matter of priority, a joint proposal for a significant boundary modification in accordance with Paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines, and encourages the States Parties to seek further advice from IUCN on the proposal before submitting it;
9. Encourages the States Parties to consider as part of the boundary modification process, the potential of the property to also meet criterion (ix), in addition to criterion (x);
10. Further requests the States Parties to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, a joint updated report on the state of conservation of the entire property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020.