Decision 42 COM 7B.71

Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine) (N 1133ter)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 41 COM 7B.4 and 41 COM 8B.7, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Welcomes the two specific government resolutions adopted by the State Party of Slovakia aimed at addressing the Committee’s requests and recommendations regarding the protection and management of the Slovak components of the property;
4. Notes the confirmation provided by the State Party of Slovakia that logging remains suspended within the Slovak components of the property, but notes with utmost concern the continued absence of adequate legal protection for part of the property and the continued reports of logging within the buffer zone and within the property;
5. Considers that the additional measures proposed by the State Party of Slovakia to provide legal protection of parts of the property which currently do not benefit from a non-intervention regime, including through designation of new nature reserves, are therefore of utmost urgency, and requests the State Party of Slovakia to expedite this process, ensuring legal protection from logging while continuing to involve and consult relevant stakeholders;
6. Noting continued efforts of the State Party of Slovakia to elaborate a proposal for boundary modifications for the Slovak components of the property, including through consultation with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, considers that given its potential impact on the OUV of the property, the boundary modification should be submitted as a significant modification in line with paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines, and also requests the State Party of Slovakia to finalize the proposal as a matter of priority, in consultation with the other States Parties of this transnational property, ensuring that:
   1. the proposed boundary modification results in better protection of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property and the new delineation includes all important areas for the expression of this OUV,
   2. all areas within the property are provided with an adequate legal protection regime,
   3. consultations have been held with relevant stakeholders through a participatory process,
   4. proposed buffer zones are adequate in size and are subject to a management regime which ensures the protection of the property’s OUV;
7. Reiterates its position that due to the continued lack of adequate legal protection of the Slovak components of the property, their protection from logging and other potential threats cannot be guaranteed in the long term, which would clearly constitute a potential danger to the OUV of this serial transnational property as a whole, in line with Paragraphs 137 and 180 of the Operational Guidelines, and also considers that this needs to be urgently addressed by adequate legal provisions and an appropriate management regime of its buffer zones;
8. Also recalling Decision 41 COM 8B.7, which requested the States Parties of this property to emphasize buffer zone management supporting undisturbed natural processes, further requests the States Parties of Romania and Slovakia to ensure that logging is, and remains, strictly prohibited within the property, and that no logging operations are allowed in the buffer zones of the property, if they could have negative impact on natural processes and the property’s OUV;
9. Requests furthermore the States Parties of this property to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, an updated joint report on the state of conservation of the property, including on the transnational management of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020.