Decision 45 COM 7B.65

Area de Conservación Guanacaste (Costa Rica) (N 928bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 43 COM 7B.24 and 44 COM 7B.196 adopted at its 43rd (Baku, 2019) and its extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) sessions respectively,
3. Welcomes the confirmation that the authorization for the proposed Interoceanic Dry Canal project was not approved and the firm State Party position communicated in this regard, and that the property continues to remain off-limits to industrial development infrastructure;
4. Remains concerned that that the project proponent as well as other companies continue to promote the proposals for an interoceanic dry canal, including as part of a proposed Mega Pacific Terminal and coast-to-coast high-speed cargo train connection and requests the State Party to keep the World Heritage Centre informed about any further developments on these proposals;
5. Notes with appreciation the progress in the implementation of climate change adaptation programmes to protect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
6. Takes note of the State Party’s confirmation that the proposed Santo Tomás hotel development will be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and also requests the State Party to ensure the EIA is completed in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context;
7. Reiterates its request to the State Party to develop a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) before approving any further renewable energy projects in order to identify the best means to harmonise renewable energy initiatives and the conservation of the property’s OUV, considering the multiple existing and proposed projects and development pressures near the property;
8. Regrets that measures to mitigate the effects of the Inter-American Highway and other roads have been limited, and reiterates its encouragement to the State Party to ensure the best possible management of all road infrastructure within and bordering the property and potentially impacting on the OUV of the property, including, but not limited to, the upgrading of Ecological National Route 918, the Inter-American Highway, and the exploration of the feasibility to improve National Road 4 as an alternative route;
9. Also takes note of the State Party’s view that the management of the Bahía Santa Elena Marine Management Area requires consolidation as a precondition for submitting a Minor Boundary Modification (MBM) and encourages the State Party to submit the corresponding MBM once the necessary conditions to ensure the effective protection and management requirements are in place;
10. Also notes with appreciation that a particularly valuable area could be added to the conservation area and reiterates its recommendation to the State Party to consider the wider “protected block” for inclusion in the property in order to harmonise the boundary of the property with other existing management units across the terrestrial and marine environment through the procedure of an MBM;
11. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7.2 which reaffirmed the increasing importance of effective buffer zones to support the protection and management of OUV and building greater resilience of properties to external threats, also encourages the State Party to establish a buffer zone for both the marine and terrestrial units of the property in line with the recommendations by the 2018 Reactive Monitoring mission building on the existing protection through the agro-landscape zones and regional conservation areas in place at the national level;
12. Acknowledging the continued human and financial capacity limitations, also reiterates its request to the State Party to fully implement all recommendations of the 2018 mission to the property and further encourages the continuation of the diversification of sources of conservation financing to further reduce the vulnerability to economic cycles;
13. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2024, 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 47th session.