Decision 44 COM 7B.96

Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal) (N 120)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 41 COM 7 and 42 COM 7B.70, adopted at its 41st (Krakow, 2017) and 42nd (Manama, 2018) sessions respectively,
3. Noting with concern the reported impacts of increasing visitor numbers on the property, welcomes the State Party’s intention to develop a Tourism Management Plan and requests the State Party to:
   1. Undertake a visitor carrying capacity study to establish an appropriate carrying capacity for the property, especially during the peak season, and use the findings to inform the Tourism Management Plan,
   2. Address how monitoring and regulation of tourism-related helicopter traffic within the property and the nationally designated buffer zones of the Park can be strengthened to reduce impacts,
   3. Ensure that the Tourism Management Plan aligns with the 2016-2020 Management Plan for the property and its next iteration;
4. Also recalling its previous concerns regarding the range of serious threats that the Kongde View Resort, located within the property, poses to its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), expresses concern over the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the resort and urges the State Party to develop a detailed environmental plan to mitigate the impacts of the resort, submit this plan to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN, and take any necessary measures to monitor its implementation;
5. Also welcomes the State Party’s decision to request a revision of the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the optical fibre project based on the comments provided by IUCN, and also requests the State Party to submit a revised EIA to the World Heritage Centre for further review by IUCN before making any decision that may be difficult to reverse, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
6. Emphasizing the distinction between a zonation scheme and a buffer zone, reiterates its request to the State Party to develop a zonation system, notably as a means of ensuring appropriate provisions for enclave villages located within the property;
7. Notes with satisfaction that there are currently no reported cases of illegal collection of firewood from within the property and encourages the State Party to continue its monitoring efforts in that regard and to reflect this and associated interventions in the next iteration of the Management Plan, as appropriate;
8. Also notes with concern the reported poaching of Himalayan musk deer within the property and further requests the State Party to review and strengthen measures to prevent any further poaching;
9. Appreciates the steps taken by the State Party to consult with local communities regarding the formalization of the nationally designated buffer zone of the National Park as a buffer zone to the property, and also encourages the State Party to continue this dialogue with the aim of formalizing a buffer zone, with the support of local people and, in due time, to submit to the World Heritage Centre a proposal for a minor boundary modification for review by the Committee, in line with Paragraph 164 of the Operational Guidelines;
10. Also notes with concern the increasing impacts of climate change on the OUV of the property and the wellbeing of local communities and requests furthermore the State Party to further monitor the impacts of climate change on the OUV of the property, to strengthen efforts towards building resilience at the property level, and to develop and implement a climate adaptation strategy, which should be integrated into the revised management plan;
11. Requests moreover 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.