Decision 46 COM 7B.50

Białowieża Forest (Belarus, Poland) (N 33ter)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B.Add.3,
2. Recalling Decision 45 COM 7B.21 adopted at its extended 45th session (Riyadh, 2023),
3. Expresses its utmost concern regarding the conclusions of the 2024 joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission that the establishment of the border barrier, associated infrastructure and border security operations in the part of the property in Poland, is exacerbating the impacts of the existing barrier in Belarus, which already hindered connectivity without completely blocking it, and that the succession of border barrier infrastructure is blocking the majority of wildlife movements and has resulted in a loss of ecological connectivity, which threatens the integrity of the property and its biodiversity values, and that these impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property could result in the property meeting the conditions for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger in the near future unless decisive urgent actions are taken;
4. Considers that in order to avoid further long-term impacts on the OUV of the property, decisive actions are needed by the States Parties of Belarus and Poland to fully restore ecological connectivity across the entire property and that this would require modifying or partly dismantling the barrier structures and associated infrastructure, however notes with concern that this is unlikely to be feasible in the short - to medium-term whilst transboundary cooperation remains impacted;
5. Urges the State Party of Poland to develop and implement mitigation measures to reduce the impact of the border barrier in Poland, including via:
   1. Urgent implementation of technical measures to address the localized impacts on the hydrology and allow for a restoration of natural peak water flows, for example by adding more and larger culverts under the barrier wall foundation and adjacent service road, and putting in place dedicated monitoring and human capacity to ensure the culverts function under peak flow conditions,
   2. Development and timely implementation of a set of actions to support the Polish lynx population in the property to improve habitat quality for increased prey availability combined with reduced noise, light, and road use, and also develop contingency plans to supplement/reintroduce the Polish lynx sub-population as warranted,
   3. Providing additional funding for monitoring and mitigation measures to suppress the introduction and spread of invasive species, including screening all human activities for invasive species, rapid detection and eradication programmes,
   4. Establishing dedicated monitoring and adaptive management capacity to mitigate noise and light pollution and edge effects,
   5. Refraining from the further development of the barrier infrastructure in the property,
   6. Taking additional measures to increase the resilience of the ecosystem by addressing other stressors on the integrity of the property;
6. Requests the States Parties of Poland and Belarus to resume, to the extent possible, transboundary cooperation, at least at the technical information exchange level, in order to facilitate the development and implementation of the recommended mitigation measures;
7. Further requests the State Party of Poland to establish a comprehensive and long-term research and monitoring programme on the OUV of the property in order to allow for adaptive management of the threats and impacts of the border barrier and its associated infrastructure, and to conduct further research on the impacts of the border barrier and associated infrastructure on the biodiversity and ecological and biological processes of the property, including alternatives to conventional border walls, wildlife passages and other measures to minimise the impacts of the border barrier, concertina fences and associated road infrastructure;
8. Further considers that a new Reactive Monitoring mission would be required in 2027 to assess the implementation of these recommendations, re-evaluate whether the property then meets the criteria for its inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and to assess the feasibility of implementing additional measures to fully restore the ecological connectivity in the property;
9. Also urges the State Party of Poland to revise the draft Integrated Management Plan to improve clarity and to include core guidance on the overall management principles of the property in order to inform all relevant management documents for the component of the property located in Poland, including Forest Management Plans, to ensure they align with the protection of the property’s OUV by including the following:
   1. Clear guidance statements for addressing threats to the OUV,
   2. Guidance for integrating border security issues into the overarching capacity to protect the property’s OUV,
   3. A catalogue of active forest management interventions that can be accepted in the active protection zone and the conditions under which they should be applied,
   4. A comprehensive and long-term research and monitoring programme to allow for adaptive management of threats, and
   5. To finalise the draft before the end of 2024 for submission to the World Heritage Centre and review by IUCN;
10. Reiterates its request to the State Party of Poland to ensure that all habitat management operations in the property comply with the management arrangements as described in the 2014 Nomination dossier, including that the undisturbed wild nature is the basic principle for the management, by:
    1. Ensuring that the new zonation fully complies with the principles detailed in the 2014 nomination dossier and does not result in an increase of the active forest protection zone,
    2. Ensuring that the new Forest Management Plans include a clear justification for each of the planned forest management interventions, as outlined in the 2024 mission recommendations,
    3. Revising the proposed Forest Fire Prevention and Suppression Plan prior to its incorporation into the Integrated Management Plan to ensure that any inconsistencies with the recommendations of the 2018 mission and management arrangements described in the 2014 Nomination dossier are resolved;
11. Also requests the State Party of Poland to develop and implement additional measures to further mitigate the impacts of the Narewkowska road, including additional restrictions on the use of the road;
12. Further requests the States Parties of Belarus and Poland to implement the other recommendations of the 2024 Reactive Monitoring mission, in particular to:
    1. Reinitiate the work on developing a Transboundary Management Plan and coordinate transboundary management actions to address the different conservation challenges of the property,
    2. Undertake a new scientific evaluation of bison and red deer ecological carrying capacity for the entire property and implications for management of dispersal, migration and range expansion movements within and outside the property,
    3. Bring wildlife management in the property better in line with undisturbed ecological processes as outlined in the mission recommendations,
    4. Continue and further increase efforts to restore the natural hydrology of the property and include the research, monitoring, and adaptation to climate change as a core guiding principle in all management planning,
    5. Implement measures to further reduce habitat fragmentation by avoiding any further upgrading of roads, significantly reducing the number of forestry roads and the number of forestry fences,
    6. Develop a vision on how the property can contribute to sustainable development of the surrounding region, based on a clear sustainable tourism strategy compatible with the protection of the OUV;
13. Finally requests the States Parties to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2025, an updated joint report on the state of conservation of the property, on the implementation of the above and the 2024 mission recommendations, in particular on the urgent measures taken to mitigate the impact of the border barrier infrastructure, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 47th session, considering that the urgent conservation needs of this property require a broad mobilisation to preserve its OUV, including the possible inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger.