Decision 43 COM 7B.5

Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Area (China) (N 1083bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.27, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Welcomes the State Party’s commitment to consider the property and its buffer zone entirely off limits with regard to mineral exploration and extraction, and in particular:
   1. The permanent closure of active mining operations and the commitment to ecological restoration of mining sites,
   2. The permanent suspension of all mineral exploration and extraction permits, including in the buffer zone,
   3. The focus on addressing illegal small-scale mining and quarrying,
   4. The monitoring of actively mined areas between the Hongshan and the Haba Snow Mountain components;
4. Strongly encourages the State Party to finalize adequate guidance and to clarify institutional responsibilities on ecological restoration in post-mining sites;
5. Notes with concern that the draft Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is not in line with the IUCN World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment, and urges again the State Party to further elaborate the SEA while strengthening technical expertise and capacity in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN;
6. Also welcomes the evolution of the overarching institutional and planning framework under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, including the elaboration of Conservation Management Plan for the property and a Strategic Master Plan for Regional Development beyond the property, and also strongly encourages the State Party to consider both the SEA findings and the changing institutional framework when elaborating these plans;
7. Further encourages the State Party to take advantage of the improved coordination measures for the property to continue the implementation of the 2013 Reactive Monitoring mission recommendations, and in particular the establishment of an overarching Management Effectiveness Assessment (MEA) system;
8. Reiterates its concern that the increasing change in views and beauty of all three river valleys and the impacts of the hydropower and related infrastructure projects on connectivity between component parts of the property are likely to have a direct negative impact on the property’s OUV and strongly urges the State Party not to consider any further development until the SEA for the property and buffer zone has been completed, and ensure that the last remaining free flowing river Nujiang is not altered by hydropower development;
9. Encourages furthermore the State Party to organize a joint World Heritage Centre/GEF SGP Asia-Pacific Community Management of Protected Areas for Conservation (COMPACT) capacity-building workshop in the property, in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre, to extend the COMPACT model to the Asia-Pacific region;
10. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2020, 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 45th session in 2021;