Plitvice Lakes National Park
Factors affecting the property in 1997*
- Impacts of tourism / visitor / recreation
- Management systems/ management plan
- Solid waste
Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
- War in the region (issue resolved);
- Poaching of bears (issue resolved);
- Dynamite fishing (issue resolved;
- Destruction of the forests and park facilities;
- Possible over-visitation of the site
International Assistance: requests for the property until 1997
Total amount approved : 60,000 USD
| 1995 | N, Plitvice (Approved) | 30,000 USD |
| 1992 | Expert mission to Plitvice to assess the damage caused ... (Approved) | 30,000 USD |
Missions to the property until 1997**
February 1992: IUCN expert mission; September 1992: UNESCO/IUCN mission; September 1993: WHC/IUCN mission; May 1996: World Heritage Centre mission
Information presented to the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee in 1997
At its last session (Merida, 1996), the Committee determined that the World Heritage values of Plitvice Lakes National Park had not been adversely impacted by the armed conflict of the early 1990's, and concluded that the natural systems of the site were recovering from pre-war over-development and over-use. Yet, the Committee decided to retain Plitvice Lakes National Park in the List of World Heritage in Danger, because it recognized potential post-war threats due to rising visitor-impacts, and the damaged condition of the Park's infrastructure. The Committee requested Croatia to provide a state of conservation report on Plitvice Lakes National Park by 15 September 1997.
The Croatian authorities, via their letter of 17 March 1997 to the Centre have thanked the Committee for its constant care for the state of conservation of Plitvice Lakes National Park and provided the following information:
(i) The Croatian Parliament has decided on new boundaries for the site, increasing the total area of the Park to cover the whole underground basin which supply water to the Lakes and streams of Plitvice;
(ii) The Park Management has cooperated with the Environmental Know How Fund of the British Embassy in Zagreb to train three Park employees in the United Kingdom on the theme "Ranger as Communicator";
(iii) A road outside the northeast boundary of the Park is being constructed to re-direct trucks currently passing through the Park and, in the long-term, to limit the use of Park roads to meet the needs of local inhabitants only; and
(iv) A state of conservation report on the Plitvice Lakes National Park, including the experience of the management of visitors during the summer of 1997, will be submitted to the Centre.
Action Required
The Bureau commends the Croatian authorities for deciding to increase the total area of the Park to cover the whole underground basin supplying Plitvice's Lakes and streams and to construct a road outside of the northeast boundary in order to redirect truck-traffic currently flowing through the Park. The Bureau recommends that the Committee, after reviewing the state of conservation report due by 15 September 1997, decide, whether or not to remove Plitvice Lakes National Park from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 1997
The Committee, at its last session (Merida, 1996), decided to retain this site on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to damage to the Park infrastructure and possible negative impacts due to over-visitation.
The Bureau, at its twenty-first ordinary session held in June 1997, commended the Park authorities for having increased the total area of the Park to include the entire basin supplying the Park's lakes and streams, constructing a road outside the Park's north-east boundary to divert truck-traffic currently flowing through the Park, and training Park staff.
As requested by the Bureau in June 1997, the Managing Director of the Park, by his letter of 11 September 1997, has provided a map of the enlarged Park area of 294.9 km2; about 100 km2 of this total consists of new additions, which he proposes for inclusion into the World Heritage area. He has pointed out that freight traffic is now redirected to the road outside of the north-eastern boundary of the Park, and that foot paths and wooden bridges for visitors have been reconstructed; in the summer of 1997, the Park had successfully admitted and managed 270,000 visitors using of educational guided tours. The construction of a new sewage system will commence soon. The Director's view that Plitvice Lakes should no longer remain in the List of World Heritage in Danger, has been endorsed, via a letter dated 18 September 1997, by the Croatian Permanent Delegate to UNESCO to the Centre.
Summary of the interventions
Decisions adopted by the Committee in 1997
21 BUR IV.A.3
Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia)
The Bureau recalled that the Committee, at its twentieth session, had determined that the World Heritage values of Plitvice Lakes National Park had not been adversely impacted by the armed conflict of the early 1990s, and concluded that the natural systems of the site were recovering from pre-war over-development and over-use. The Committee decided to retain Plitvice Lakes National Park on the List of World Heritage in Danger, because it recognized potential post-war threats due to rising visitor impacts, and the damaged condition of the Park's infrastructure.
The Bureau was informed that the Croatian authorities had revised the boundaries of the Park to increase its total area to include the entire underground basin which supplies water to lakes and streams of Plitvice and had trained Park employees. A road outside the northeast boundary of the Park to re-direct traffic currently passing through the Park is under construction and, a state of conservation report on the Park, including the experience gained from the management of visitors during the summer of 1997, is expected to be submitted to the Centre by 15 September 1997.
The Bureau commended the Croatian authorities for increasing the total area of the Park to include the entire underground basin supplying Plitvice's lakes and streams and constructing a road outside of the Park's northeast boundary in order to redirect truck-traffic currently flowing through the Park. The Bureau requested the Centre to contact the Croatian authorities to obtain a map of the new boundaries of the Park and to find out whether they intend to enlarge the World Heritage area to conform with the Park's new boundaries. The Bureau recommended that the Committee, after reviewing the state of conservation report due by 15 September 1997, decide whether or not to remove Plitvice Lakes National Park from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
21 COM VII.B.12
SOC: Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia)
VII.12 Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia)
The Committee recalled that at its last session (Merida, 1996), it decided to retain this site on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to damage to the Park infrastructure and possible negative impacts due to over-visitation. The Bureau, at its twenty-first ordinary session held in June 1997, commended the Park authorities for having increased the total area of the Park to include the entire underground basin supplying the Park's lakes and streams. The Park had admitted and managed 270,000 visitors, using educational guided tours. The construction of a new sewage system will commence soon. The Director's view that Plitvice Lakes should no longer remain in the List of World Heritage in Danger, had been endorsed, via a letter dated 18 September 1997, by the Croatian Permanent Delegate to UNESCO.
The Committee commended the Croatian authorities for having undertaken measures to repair damage to the Park's infrastructure. The Committee decided to remove Plitvice from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee requested the Park management to expedite the reconstruction of the sewage system. In accordance with paragraph 66 of the Operational Guidelines, the Committee invited Croatia to nominate the extension of 100 km2, using standard nomination procedures as set out in paragraph 64 of the Operational Guidelines.
21 COM VIII.A.5
Property removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger
VIII.5 The Committee examined the state of conservation reports contained in Working Document WHC-97/CONF.208/8A and decided to remove the following natural property from the List of World Heritage in Danger:
- Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia)
The Committee may wish to adopt the following:
"The Committee commends the Croatian authorities for having undertaken measures to repair damage to the Park's infrastructure. The Committee decides to remove Plitvice from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee requests the Park management to expedite the reconstruction of the sewage system. In accordance with paragraph 66 of the Operational Guidelines, the Committee invites Croatia to nominate the extension of 100 km2, about 33% of the new area of 294 km2, using standard nomination procedures as set out in paragraph 64 of the Operational Guidelines."
Croatia
Exports
* :
The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).
** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.
