Decision 45 COM 7B.2

El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve (Mexico) (N 1410)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examinedDocument WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add.2,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7B.114 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
3. Regrets the construction of the border wall in the United States of America (USA) in spite of the request of the Committee in its Decision 44 COM 7B.14 to halt any further works and without prior submission to the World Heritage Centre of an assessment of the potential impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and expresses its concern that the border wall now extends along almost the entire boundary between the property and adjoining areas of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM) and most of the Cabeza Prieto National Wildlife Refuge (CPNWR), with the exception of two mountainous areas;
4. Reiterates its view that the physical presence of the wall has clear negative impacts on the integrity of the property and wider ecological connectivity thereby blocking the movement of critical wildlife populations, such as the Sonoran Pronghorn, which constitute important attributes of the OUV of the property;
5. Further requests the States Parties of Mexico and the USA to provide clarification, including detailed maps, with regards to the exact composition of the wall structure along each section of the property’s boundary and details on the mitigation measures taken to guarantee or restore connectivity;
6. While encouraging the ongoing transboundary collaboration between the States Parties of Mexico and the USA, in assessing and mitigating the impacts that the construction works and the border wall have already had on the OUV of the property and the commissioned study to evaluate the impacts of the border wall on mammal communities of the Sonoran Desert, requests the State Party of the USA, in line with Article 6.3 of the Convention, to develop, resource and implement in cooperation with the State Party of Mexico an urgent action plan to assess and mitigate impacts of the border wall to the property and restore the connectivity, through consultation with the IUCN Species Survival Commission/World Commission on Protected Areas, as appropriate, and to submit this as soon as possible and no later than 1 February 2024 to the World Heritage Centre;
7. Also requests the States Parties of Mexico and the USA to fast-track implementation of the Sonoran Pronghorn recovery plan and measures that avoid further depletion of scarce water resources;
8. Considers that if ecological connectivity is not restored to safeguard the viability of key populations, the property may meet the conditions for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, in line with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines;
9. Requests furthermore the States Parties of Mexico and the USA to continue closely monitoring the key species and use the findings to inform species’ recovery plans and active management strategies to mitigate impacts;
10. Requests the State Party of Mexico, in coordination with the State Party of the USA, to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess the impacts of the border wall on the OUV of the property and the measures taken to guarantee the connectivity of the property with the adjacent wildlife dispersal areas;
11. Requests the State Party of Mexico to implement effective and sustained mitigation measures for the photovoltaic project, if approved, throughout the construction and operational phases of the project, which align with the management of the property, and adhere to the highest environmental standards, including measures to ensure the conservation of the important biodiversity in the wider landscape, which also supports the OUV of the property;
12. Requests moreover the State Party of Mexico, in cooperation with the State Party of the USA, to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2024, a report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session, considering that the urgent conservation needs of this property require a broad mobilization to preserve its Outstanding Universal Value, including the possible inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger.