Decision 46 COM 7B.1

Butrint (Albania) (C 570ter)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 33 COM 7B.86 and 38 COM 8E adopted at its 33rd (Sevilla, 2009) and 38th (Doha, 2014) sessions respectively,
3. Notes the submission of progress reports on the state of conservation in 2011 and 2015 as well as the completion, submission and first steps of the implementation of the Integrated Management Plan of the Butrint National Park 2020-2030 (IMP), and invites the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre a mid-term evaluation of its implementation;
4. Welcomes the engagement of the State Party with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in the development of project proposals for projects in the property, its buffer zone and its wider setting, as well as the undertaking of detailed scientific studies, such as impact assessments as a prerequisite for development projects and activities planned for implementation within or around the property;
5. Also welcomes the progress made towards the development of conservation and management tools, including a Community Engagement and Development Plan, and requests that the State Party ensure that these tools place the maintenance of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property as a primary aim and submit them to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
6. Further welcomes the progress made towards the updating of the Conservation Plan and the Action Plan and the readiness of the Butrint Management Foundation (BMF) to implement the Action Plan in the areas under its supervision, and also requests the State Party to submit both plans to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
7. Welcomes furthermore the progress made towards developing a detailed Action Plan with a timeframe to implement the recommendations of the 2022 mission, and further requests the State Party to submit it to the World Heritage Centre and to implement fully the recommendations of the mission;
8. Also notes that the transition of the management of the sections of the property categorised as A3 to the BMF will soon be completed, welcomes the ongoing work to ensure that the newly created Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation (MECI) retains oversight of the entire World Heritage property, stresses that in order to achieve effective management and accountability, the World Heritage property and its buffer zone need to be managed in a coordinated manner and as a whole, and requests furthermore the State Party to provide clarifications to the World Heritage Centre on the current protective regulations and designated uses for all zones of the National Park in relation to the protection of the World Heritage property and the function of its buffer zone, and on how the different management regimes will be harmonised and equally resourced to avoid fragmentation in management;
9. Regrets that the clarification of the boundaries of the property and its buffer zone is still pending and urges the State Party to submit, as a matter of priority, a clear and accurate map showing the World Heritage property boundary and the buffer zone boundary to the World Heritage Centre for review;
10. Further notes that ICOMOS has prepared a technical review of the Visitor’s Centre project and the related documentation submitted by the State Party, and requests the State Party to fully implement its recommendations, including allowing sufficient time to prepare a full Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) to assess the impact of the proposal on the OUV of the property, which should, amongst others, be based on diverse and thorough archaeological investigations, include the landscape dimension, and allow more time for the assessment to be conducted;
11. Requests moreover that the State Party continue to submit details of projects that may affect the OUV of the property to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before any irreversible decisions are taken on their implementation, and that projects be implemented only after agreement has been reached on their alignment with the maintenance of the OUV of the property;
12. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2025 an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, including a detailed Action Plan with a timeframe for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2022 mission, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 47th session.