Decision 46 COM 7B.60

Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls (Zambia, Zimbabwe) (N 509)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B.Add.2,
2. Recalling Decisions 36 COM 7B.7, [38 COM 7B.7][38 COM 7B.96], 44 COM 7B.177 and 45 COM 7B.10 adopted at its 36th (Saint-Petersburg, 2012), 38th (Doha, 2014) sessions and at its 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) and 45th (Riyadh) extended sessions respectively,
3. Appreciates the continuous cooperation between the States Parties and their partners to improve the state of conservation of the property, and to conduct the reported research, monitoring and management activities;
4. Urges the States Parties to expedite the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) on the cumulative development and environmental pressure on the property, seeking inputs and technical guidance from IUCN, and to conclude full implementation of the 2022 Reactive Monitoring mission recommendations;
5. Also recalling its concern regarding the increasing pressure from tourism infrastructure within and around the property, exacerbated by insufficient implementation of strategic planning, acknowledges that the revision of the Joint Integrated Management Plan (JIMP) for the property has been delayed for the purposes of alignment with other respective national documents, and requests the States Parties to:
   1. Finalize the JIMP as soon as possible and to ensure that it incorporates necessary safeguards and thresholds to mitigate against developmental pressures for the protection of the property’s OUV, and zonation of the property, including well prescribed limits of use and permissible activities (including infrastructure), in line with the objectives of protecting the OUV and with past Committee decisions,
   2. Set precise boundaries of the property and its buffer zone in view of concluding the Retrospective Inventory for the property,
   3. Report on the harmonization of various national and transboundary plans and policy documents, and
   4. Submit the JIMP to the World Heritage Centre by 30 June 2025 for review by IUCN before it is adopted;
6. Noting again with concern the likely negative impacts of the proposed Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Scheme (BGHES) on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, also takes note that the States Parties will revise the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, and requests the States Parties to ensure that the revised ESIA includes alternative scenarios to avoid impact on the OUV of the property, and to submit the revised ESIA to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN prior to taking any decision that is difficult to reverse;
7. Recalls with regret that the construction of the Mosi-oa-Tunya Livingstone Resort Hotel was concluded despite the Committee’s request to halt further activities until the ESIA had been submitted to the World Heritage Centre and reviewed by IUCN, notes that the mitigation measures integral to legal conditions of approval issued by Zambian Environmental Management Authority are being implemented, and also requests the States Parties to provide further details on the implementation of these mitigation measures to ensure that the infrastructure does not negatively affect the OUV of the property;
8. Further requests the States Parties to provide information on all developments proposed in the property, its buffer zone, and wider setting, including on a permit for two commercial tourism development sites within the Zimbabwean component of the property recognised as highly sensitive zones according to the previous JIMP, and also urges the States Parties to ensure that any project proposals that may impact the OUV undergo an ESIA in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context before taking any decision that is difficult to reverse;
9. Further takes note of the States Parties’ confirmation to submit a request for boundary modification;
10. Finally requests the States Parties to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2025, a joint 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 48th session.