Decision 44 COM 7B.89

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (Australia) (N 368bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Expresses its utmost concern about the unprecedented fires that affected more than half of the property, which is not normally subject to recurring fire events, and severely affected some of its components and some attributes of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
3. Welcomes the information provided by the State Party regarding the immediate management responses across different components of the property, the assessment of impacts and the plans for longer-term actions, including funding commitments to ensure long-term recovery, and requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN, an update on the process made assessing the impacts of fires on the OUV of the property and its recovery prospects as soon as any new significant information becomes available;
4. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7, which reiterated the importance of States Parties undertaking the most ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), notes with concern that climate change is recognized as an increasing threat to the property and also welcomes the efforts of the State Party to build understanding of projected changes as a result of climate change in relation to the property’s OUV and to strengthen climate and disaster resilience;
5. Appreciates the efforts made through the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements to look at lessons learned and to develop recommendations on how to strengthen emergency management and climate and natural disaster risk reduction and implement reforms based on the experience made, and encourages the State Party to share the lessons learned with other States Parties to the Convention facing similar threats, promoting knowledge exchange on fire management strategies at natural World Heritage properties;
6. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, 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 46th session.