Decision 46 COM 7B.64

Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (India) (N 1406rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 38 COM 8B.7, 43 COM 7B.8 and 44 COM 7B.184 adopted at its 38th (Doha, 2014), 43rd (Baku, 2019) and extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) sessions respectively,
3. Welcomes the State Party’s continued commitment to significantly enlarging the property including reported actions towards the inclusion of Khirganga National Park, and encourages the State Party to continue its efforts to entitle the necessary status and designations to the protected areas considered for inclusion in the World Heritage property in order to advance the process, and to seek guidance from the World Heritage Centre and IUCN in relation to the planned boundary modification in line with the Operational Guidelines, as needed;
4. Acknowledges the continued commitment to ensure the meaningful involvement of local stakeholders and rightsholders in the governance and management of the property, and requests the State Party to provide an update on its progress in undertaking consultations with communities and stakeholders to progressively extend the property;
5. Also welcomes the development of monitoring protocols for the long-term monitoring of the property and also requests the State Party to provide more details on the planned monitoring system in its next report, including on the first results of this work;
6. Takes note that impacts from existing resource use within the property are reported to be minimal and that the buffer zone (Ecozone) fulfils local community resource requirements, and also requests the State Party to provide further details on how the ban on the extraction of medicinal plants was agreed with local stakeholders and rightsholders since, as noted by IUCN at the time of inscription, access- and use- rights require sensitive resolution that is sympathetic to the rights of communities, fostering alternative livelihoods, and the conservation of the area;
7. Noting with appreciation that a study is being finalised to assess the current status of livestock grazing in and around the Tirthan and Sainj Wildlife Sanctuaries, and plans to phase out grazing, further requests the State Party to provide the final report of this study to the World Heritage Centre as soon as it is available as well as further information on the findings of the study and resulting management measures taken, including plans to phase out grazing, in light of the decision not to re-categorise the wildlife sanctuaries as a national park, and to provide additional details on the process followed to implement the total grazing ban in the property including community involvement in line with a rights-based approach;
8. Also takes note that the State Party is engaged with the Category 2 Centre Wildlife Institute of India to consider identifying options for potential new nominations in the region, and also encourages the State Party to continue engagement with relevant States Parties in the context of the findings of the Hindu Kush Himalaya technical assessment that was developed through collaboration between the States Parties, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), IUCN and other partners on potential new opportunities;
9. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2025, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above.