Decision 42 COM 7B.4

Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape (China) (C 1508)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 8B.19, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Acknowledges the progress made by the State Party with the implementation of the recommendations made by the Committee at the time of the property’s inscription on the World Heritage List, and encourages the State Party to complete the ongoing process of listing all 38 rock art sites located within the property as ‘National Priority Protected Sites’ as quickly as possible;
4. Takes note of the presentation and utilization projects within the property area and its buffer zones currently in the planning stages and under review, and invites the State Party to inform the Committee, through the World Heritage Centre, of any future plans for major restoration or new construction projects that may affect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, before making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse;
5. Recommends that the State Party prepare and adopt formal mechanisms to ensure that the OUV of the property, including its authenticity and integrity, is sustained over the long term, including:
   1. a conservation/consolidation programme for all the rock art sites, with consequent monitoring systems,
   2. a risk preparedness strategy for inclusion within the Management Plan that addresses, inter alia, the risk of forest fire,
   3. mechanisms to restrict firewood collection from the forest as a means of protecting the environment of the rock art sites,
   4. mechanisms to restrict areas allocated to farming to the present level;
6. Also encourages the State Party to keep the Committee informed of progress with the creation of a “green energy demonstration site”, in particular regarding the implementation of environmentally sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel for the operation of boats and other facilities in the surrounding villages;
7. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, 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 44th session in 2020.