Decision 43 COM 7A.41

Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley (Afghanistan) (C 208 rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7A,
2. Recalling Decision 42 COM 7A.1, adopted at its 42nd session (Manama, 2018),
3. Notes the initiatives taken by the State Party and international partners towards the conservation of important component parts of this serial property;
4. Welcomes the establishment and regular meetings of the National Working Committee tasked with reviewing proposals for the Bamiyan Buddha statues and, also recalling the outcomes of the September 2017 International Symposium held in Tokyo, Japan, on the future of the Bamiyan Buddha statues, requests that the State Party submit any adopted decision and Action Plan for the future treatment of the Bamiyan Buddha niches and statues to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
5. Also welcomes the progress made with the establishment of the Management Plan and its harmonization with other management tools, in particular the Strategic Master Plan (SMP), endorsed by the President of Afghanistan, and also requests the State Party to:
   1. Maintain close consultations with all stakeholders to ensure an integrated approach towards heritage preservation in relation with the urban development and other, broader development initiatives;
   2. Submit the SMP to the World Heritage Centre for review of the Advisory Bodies, and;
   3. Submit to the World Heritage Centre all necessary documentation concerning the traffic plan component and the bypass road included in the SMP, which require further technical, geological and economic feasibility studies, including Environmental and Heritage Impact Assessments in accordance with the national regulations and the ICOMOS and IUCN Guidelines;
6. Further requests the State Party to use the GIS-based cultural mapping and zoning information, as was done in the Cultural Master Plan, for future development of planning tools in Bamiyan;
7. Further welcomes the recommendations of the International Technical Meeting on the future of the Bamiyan World Heritage property (Salalah, Oman, 3-5 December 2018);
8. Notes with regret however that the State Party did not provide a revised timeframe for the implementation of the corrective measures adopted by the Committee at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008);
9. Regrets the absence of progress with the development of effective regulating mechanisms to address future population growth and industrial development in the vicinity of the property, and reiterates its request to the State Party to proceed with a boundary modification, in accordance with Paragraphs 163-164 of the Operational Guidelines, and revise national legislation in order to enhance the permanent protection of heritage resources, and notably the cultural landscape in the Bamiyan Valley that is currently not within protected zones, along with its setting;
10. Notes with great concern that work to stabilize the Western Buddha niche has been pending and calls upon the international community to provide technical and financial support for the conservation of component sites that are threatening to collapse, in order to assist the State Party in achieving the adopted Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR);
11. Also notes that security personnel is currently funded through international cooperation and strongly urges the State Party to identify and use national financial resources to allocate security staff to all components of the property on a permanent basis;
12. Further notes that most significant technical activities for the property have been realized through international assistance mechanisms, and strongly encourages the State Party to prepare a long-term strategy to sustainably secure resources for the most important operations, and to coordinate international cooperation funds to help carry out high-priority actions;
13. Reiterates its deep regret that irreversible decisions concerning the Bamiyan Cultural Centre and Museum were taken without informing the Committee, despite the provisions of Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines and its repeated prior requests, and that construction progressed without the preparation and submission of a Heritage Impact Assessment for review by the Advisory Bodies, and recommends that the State Party carefully plan the Cultural Centre’s content by harnessing the opportunity for visitors to learn not only about the region’s cultural values, but also about the World Heritage property wherein the Cultural Centre is located;
14. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 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 44th session in 2020;
15. Decides to retain Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley (Afghanistan) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.