Decision 45 COM 7B.172

Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications (Sri Lanka) (C 451)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7B.37 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
3. Requests the State Party to use the retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value as a foundation for identifying and prioritising all actions for preservation and management of the property, as adopted by the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee;
4. Welcomes the State Party’s ongoing commitment to respond to the pervious decisions of the Committee concerning the management of the property, notes the ongoing management efforts; however, in light of the challenges in implementing the Integrated Management Plan (IMP) and the Sustainable Tourism Management Plan (STMP) and also requests that a review and prioritisation of outstanding actions in the existing plans is undertaken and submitted;
5. Further requests the State Party to pursue the elaboration of the Conservation Plan and a rapid conservation survey is carried out in order to identify any urgent conservation priorities that have arisen while conservation planning has been delayed and to use this as a basis on which to draft the outstanding Conservation Plan;
6. Reiterates its request to the State Party to provide details of development and conservation projects that have been approved over the past three years and reminds the State Party to inform the World Heritage Centre in due course about any significant projects, including conservation or adaptive reuse projects, that may negatively impact the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, before any irreversible decisions are made, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.
7. Requests furthermore that a management effectiveness evaluation is undertaken to understand if the financial, human and intellectual resources correspond to the needs of the property, and to identify where additional resources and capacity building are required for Galle Heritage Foundation;
8. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2024, 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.