Decision 44 COM 7B.102

Gros Morne National Park (Canada) (N 419)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 42 COM 7B.73, adopted at its 42nd session (Manama, 2018),
3. Welcomes the establishment of the Federal-Provincial Land Use Committee to collaboratively manage activities in and around the property, and strongly encourages the State Party to strengthen the mandate of this Committee to assign it decision-making powers pertaining to any future oil and gas licenses in the vicinity of the property;
4. Acknowledging the continued “pause” on hydraulic fracturing outside the property, reiterates its request to the State Party to ensure that long-term, substantive measures are introduced to prevent future oil and gas licenses being awarded in the vicinity of the property, and before the “pause” on hydraulic fracturing outside the property is lifted;
5. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to clarify when a full assessment of the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydraulic Review Panel’s recommendations will be completed, and to submit the final analyses when available to the World Heritage Centre;
6. Also acknowledging the vast size of the Gulf of St Lawrence and its multi-jurisdictional spread, but considering the ecological connectivity of the Gulf with the property, requests the State Party to closely monitor any proposed and planned exploratory activity in the Gulf of St Lawrence that has the potential to impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
7. Notes with concern that the upgrade project of the Western Brook Pond was completed without sufficient Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or stakeholder consultation and also requests the State Party to ensure the restoration of any damaged vegetation and landscape;
8. Further requests the State Party to re-asses the impacts of the multiple upgrade and of the maintenance projects currently underway within the property on the OUV and other natural values of the property and to review the projects to ensure the visitor infrastructure remains non-intrusive and blends in with the landscape of the property;
9. Further reiterates its request to the State Party to invite, if the “pause” on petroleum exploration in the vicinity of the property is discontinued, a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess the risks to the property’s OUV;
10. Requests furthermore 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 implementation of the above.