Decision 45 COM 7B.81

Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Area (China) (N 1083bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 37 COM 7B.12, 43 COM 7B.5 and 44 COM 7B.182 adopted at its 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013), 43rd (Baku, 2019) and extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) sessions respectively,
3. Commends the State Party for its unequivocal commitment to strictly prohibit mineral extraction within the property and its buffer zone;
4. Appreciates the further clarifications regarding the evolving governance and management framework for the complex serial property, including post-mining restoration, and requests the State Party to continue the implementation and monitoring of active and passive activities to ensure the ecological restoration of former mining sites in the property and its buffer zone;
5. Notes that discussions regarding the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) are ongoing, but regrets the limited tangible progress and urges once more the State Party to further improve and finalise the SEA, in line with international best practices and the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, and to ensure that the SEA includes an assessment of indirect and cumulative impacts of both the upstream and downstream catchments of Nujiang, Lancang and Jinsha Rivers, so that the results can inform management and decision making for future developments;
6. Reiterates its encouragement to the State Party to invite an IUCN Advisory mission to that effect;
7. Also recalling the recommendation of the 2013 mission to avoid the construction of transmission infrastructure within the property and its buffer zones and Decision 44 COM 7B.182 in which the State Party was requested to explore alternative options to the Dulong River power transmission line as proposed, expresses its utmost concern that the transmission line project, which crosses the Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve component of the property and for which an Environmental Impact Assessment identified impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, has been completed and is operational, and also requests the State Party to urgently provide details of the alternative options it assessed, and the mitigating measures it took during construction and is now implementing to ensure the protection of the OUV during the operation of the transmission line;
8. Further recalling concerns expressed by the World Heritage Centre and IUCN over other power transmission projects crossing the property and its buffer zones confirmed by the State Party via letter in March 2019, including two ongoing projects in Deqin County 1) ‘Sancha River first stage and second stage hydropower station transmission and transformation projects’ and 2) ‘110KV Power Transmission and Transformation Construction Project’, and further requests the State Party to provide updates on the status of these projects;
9. Notes with appreciation ongoing consultations about the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) involving various administrative levels, experts and the public, but reiterates its request to expedite the development of the CMP and Management Effectiveness Assessment (MEA) system in line with the recommendations of the 2013 mission, requests furthermore the State Party to submit the updated draft CMP to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN, and encourages the State Party to widen the scope of the possible IUCN Advisory mission so as to also encompass dialogue about the CMP and the evolving MEA system;
10. Finally 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.