Decision 46 COM 7B.4

Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (Austria, Hungary) (C 772rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 45 COM 7B.52 adopted at its extended 45th session (Riyadh, 2023),
3. Welcomes the strengthened cooperation of the States Parties in the protection and management of the transboundary property, commends their efforts in finalising the updated joint Management Plan, and also welcomes their decision to develop a vision for the future of the property and to establish a joint strategy, including a strategy for tourism infrastructure and management, to ensure a sustainable and equitable use of the property consistent with its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
4. Expresses concern at the findings of the joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ Ramsar Secretariat Advisory mission to the property in 2023, which indicate that the current management system does not adequately protect the cultural landscape and that the property is affected by a number of factors, including urban development and sprawl, large visitor accommodation and associated infrastructure, lack of protection of urban centres, changes in the functions of buildings, renewable energy facilities (repowering of wind turbines in the component in Austria);
5. Endorses the recommendations of the 2023 mission and calls on the States Parties to implement them in order to strengthen the protection of the property’s OUV;
6. Invites the States Parties to jointly undertake an inventory of all existing and planned tourism facilities along the lakeshore, together with an assessment of their cumulative adverse impacts on the attributes underlying the property’s OUV, and to submit the results of the assessment to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
7. Requests the State Party of Hungary to conduct a Heritage Impact Assessment of a redesigned Sopron Fertö Lake Resort project in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context and to submit it, together with a detailed project document, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before making any decision that would be difficult to reverse;
8. Acknowledges the need to maintain renewable energy infrastructure in the Federal State of Burgenland, but considers that the repowering of wind farms in the setting of the property prolongs the existing negative impact of wind farms on the OUV of the property, and therefore advises the State Party of Austria to:
   1. Develop a framework for assessing the visual impact of wind turbines based on an inventory of the spatial and landscape attributes underlying the property’s OUV,
   2. Strengthen the protection of the visual setting of the property, taking into account the significant contribution of the wider landscape setting to its OUV,
   3. Seek opportunities to mitigate the negative impacts of existing wind turbines when repowering the wind farms,
   4. Carry out impact assessments for all wind energy projects in the visual setting of the property, using the above-mentioned Guidance and the Guidance for Wind Energy Projects in a World Heritage Context;
9. Notes that the protection of the visual setting of the property by its current buffer zone is very limited, and further advises the State Party of Austria to:
   1. Investigate alternative locations for the proposed hospital outside the town Gols, which, if constructed in its current location, would have a negative impact on the OUV of the property,
   2. Undertake a thorough assessment of the buffer zone and consider submitting an enlarged buffer zone boundary through the Minor Boundary Modification process;
10. Further welcomes the decision of the States Parties to continue to investigate the potential interventions to increase the water supply to the lake and to preserve the soda pans in the area, and to ensure that all the optional solutions are subject to transboundary Environmental Impact Assessments, and encourages the States Parties to engage in a careful and sustained consultation process on possible solutions, including with the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and the Ramsar Secretariat;
11. Finally requests the States Parties to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2025, an updated joint report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 48th session.