Decision 43 COM 7B.88

Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands (Russian Federation) (C 632)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 42 COM 7B.29, adopted at its 42nd session (Manama, 2018),
3. Welcomes the specialist research work now being undertaken to define the spiritual, historical, cultural and natural values of the property, and that this work will encompass the morphology of the landscape, its vegetation, and the history of the civilian settlements, as well as the precise details of the historic roads and the engineering of the water management system that feeds the Sacred Lake and provides essential drinking water;
4. Underscores the need for this work to give particular consideration to the important ensemble of timber service buildings, the Soviet-era and later architect domestic buildings, and the important collection of vernacular buildings, all of which contribute to Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, and also underlines the need for a coherent approach to the protection of Gulag buildings, which are part of the history of the property;
5. Also welcomes this research work as the basis for defining a new ‘Concept’ to over-arch the development of the Master Plan and the revision of the Management Plan, and to guide new regulatory systems;
6. Notes that the draft ‘Concept’ will be prepared by May 2019 and draft regulatory systems by the end of 2019;
7. Also notes that the Master Plan should provide an opportunity to reflect on what needs renovation, where development might be appropriate, what type of tourism is desired, ways in which the local economy might be invigorated, and how all these might be addressed in tandem with development in the buffer zone and the wider hinterland;
8. Further welcomes the firm commitment already given by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia that the small airport runway will not been enlarged as, in line with the 2018 Mission recommendations, such an extension ‘would adversely affect OUV’ by leading to an influx of tourists that could contribute to “the destruction of the common cultural and spiritual space of Solovki”;
9. Notes with concern that over the last few years, conservation of the main monastic buildings has not always been implemented in ways that are either appropriate in terms of material and approaches, but welcomes furthermore the fact that the inappropriate restoration work of the boulder walls has been stopped;
10. Further notes that the planned all-encompassing management system for the Archipelago should allow for local control of conservation projects, and stresses the necessity for supervision of major restoration and conservation projects to be undertaken by a conservation architect as well as regular maintenance to help avoid major interventions;
11. Welcomes moreover the establishment of the multi-disciplinary Expert Council as part of the Fund for the Conservation and Development of the Solovetsky Archipelago to provide independent expert advice during the development of the Master Plan and Management Plan, and the requested UNESCO World Heritage Centre/Advisory Bodies advisory assistance for the elaboration of these plans;
12. Supports the latest plans for the reconstruction of the partly built new museum subject to further reflection on the facing material, but considers that more work is needed on the overall scope of the wider museum project (encompassing the diesel power station, Gulag barracks and possibly the Soviet era barn);
13. Notes furthermore the discussion on the possible reconstruction of the Church of St. Onufrievskaya, destroyed during the Gulag period; also considers that the Master Plan should be used to define practice of reconstruction bearing in mind the requirements of Paragraph 86 of the Operational Guidelines and ICOMOS Guidance on Post Trauma Recovery and Reconstruction for World Heritage Cultural Properties, and requests the State Party to submit, for any proposed reconstruction projects, a detailed concept for review specifying how the original buildings contributed to the overall monastic settlement, full details of the evidence that is available, and how reconstruction might be seen to support the OUV of the property, before any approvals are given;
14. Also 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.