Decision 44 COM 8B.14

Deer Stone Monuments and Related Sites, the Heart of Bronze Age Culture (Mongolia)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC/21/44.COM/8B and WHC/21/44.COM/INF.8B1,
2. Refers the nomination of Deer Stone Monuments and Related Sites, the Heart of Bronze Age Culture, Mongolia, back to the State Party to allow it to:
   1. Revise the overall narrative of the nominated property to reflect the whole of the archaeological complexes, portraying a greater balance regarding deer stones and the other substantial attributes notably the khirgisuurs,
   2. Consolidate the information provided for the comparative analysis with clear criteria used consistently, and with summary findings in a table,
   3. Review the justification for inscription of the nominated property based on a revised overall narrative which will provide an adequate understanding of the various attributes, their relationships and meaning; in the case of criterion (i), this should also include the cultural role of the design qualities of the deer stones,
   4. Extend the buffer zone to the south of the Uushigiin Övör component part to include the area where there is currently a tent hotel, with the objective of relocating the hotel outside of the extended buffer zone,
   5. Take all necessary steps to provide comprehensive legal protection to the component parts of the nominated property as soon as possible,
   6. Fully implement the management plan,
   7. Provide personnel and resources for the administration in charge of the protection of the nominated property;
3. Recommends that the State Party give consideration to the following:
   1. Completing the planned survey and documentation work as soon as possible, and extending documentation to include the important elements in the landscape setting,
   2. Adopting a landscape management approach for the setting of the nominated property,
   3. Preparing and implementing a risk management plan and a tourism plan,
   4. Implementing additional conservation measures as part of the national programme,
   5. Avoiding further re-erection of deer stones without a robust methodology consistent with best conservation practice, and consideration of remedial measures as needed,
   6. Giving emphasis in the monitoring arrangements to the actual state of conservation of the identified attributes,
   7. Defining the carrying capacity of the land for grazing, and reviving traditional methods of pasture rotation,
   8. Establishing a timetable for the removal of the remnant machinery of the disused coal mine in the southwestern part of the buffer zone of the Khoid Tamir component part,
   9. Improving the interpretive materials for the nominated property,
   10. Updating the figures of the surfaces of areas and buffer zones according to the revised boundaries for the nominated property;
4. Also recommends that the name of the nominated property be amended according to the revised narrative and that the “Heart of Bronze Age Culture” be removed from the title.