Decision 45 COM 7B.146

Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador) (Morocco) (C 753rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 7B.61 adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2009),
3. Congratulates the State Party for the positive and transversal dynamics established with all stakeholders responsible for protection and civil society actors, as well as for the quality of the work carried out, encourages it to continue its efforts for the preservation and enhancement of the property and requests it to provide more information, including visuals, on all the work carried out and planned for the monumental attributes of the property and its urban fabric, so that a more precise overall assessment of the state of conservation of the property can be established;
4. Welcomes the development and adoption of planning tools such as the Master Plan for the Urban Development of Greater Essaouira (SDAU) and the Plan for the Development and Safeguarding of the Medina (PASME), and also requests the State Party to provide the World Heritage Centre with further information on these plans, and in particular to confirm whether they are based on the approach of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), for the integration of the property into its surrounding context in order to preserve the Outstanding Universal Value, but also the other values of the property such as those relating to its social-economic aspects;
5. Noting that no information has been provided on the management plan previously requested by the Committee, also requests the State Party to inform the World Heritage Centre of the management structure in place for the property, particularly in view of the ongoing transformations within the property and its buffer zone;
6. Notes with satisfaction the collaboration established with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to advance the project to restructure the port of Essaouira, as well as the conclusions and recommendations of the March 2022 online technical meeting that allow the State Party to move forward with the project, nevertheless requests the State Party to submit visualizations from the Porte de la Marine towards the port and the Mogador archipelago as soon as the installation of the fishermen's stalls is completed and the traffic study to the World Heritage Centre as soon as it is prepared,
7. Reminds the State Party of its obligation to submit information on any other significant project to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, before decisions are taken that could be difficult to reverse;
8. Urges the State Party to submit, as part of the retrospective inventory a proposal for boundary clarification of the property as soon as possible;
9. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 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 47th session.