Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley

Delay in the finalization of the Management Plan and completion of the entomological inventory for the property

On 1 February 2012, in application of the decision taken at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010) by the World Heritage Committee, the State Party submitted three examples of the revised Management Plan concerning the property, in Catalan and French, as well as a progress report on the implementation of the Management Plan. The State Party informed that the Management Plan entered into force on 28 December 2011, after having been approved in November 2011 by each of the four Comuns (the four local administrations concerned with the management of the Valley) on which territory where the property is located

According to the State Party report, the Management Commission comprises four members. Each of the four Comuns (Encamp, Andorra la Vella, Sant Julià de Lòria and Escaldes-Engordany) commissions a member who must be the Consol (elected member who is the chief of the Comù) or a municipal councillor. The annual budget concerning the implementation of the Management Plan was adopted on 29 December 2011. According to the State Party, the designation of the Director, as well as the effective programme development should begin during the first half of 2012.

Furthermore, the State Party emphasizes that the Ministry of Culture now has a dual role. On the one hand, complying with the body responsible for the management of the Valley, it has a role of counsel prior to decision-taking; on the other hand, in respect of the 9/2003 Law for Cultural Heritage of Andorra, it is the guarantor for the conservation of the property.

The State Party also submitted a Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for this property.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies take note of the entry into force of the « Management Plan of the Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley ».

They consider that the Management Plan has been carefully crafted to provide a satisfactory structure for the management of the property, bringing together representatives of the four Comuns within an overall legal framework. Moreover, they consider that there are three areas where further clarification or development is needed:

1. The management objectives need to be clarified in relation to the Outstanding Universal Value for which the property was inscribed. As soon as the Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value will be approved by the Committee, this should become the cornerstone of the Management Plan and the attributes that convey Outstanding Universal Value. In order to achieve this, a clear definition of its tangible and intangible attributes will need to be set out.  This is relevant to paragraphs 1.1 and 5.1 of the Management Plan.

2. At the time of inscription, the World Heritage Committee encouraged the State Party to provide an access strategy which supports the needs of those activities necessary for the sustainable development of the Valley; this was recommended because of concerns over roads being developed within the Valley. The Management Plan is currently ambiguous on this point, as it states that "funding for vehicular access in the Valley....will be subject to specific agreement between the Government and Comuns".  An overall access strategy needs to be developed.

3. The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies take note of the emphasis on pastoralism and the promotion of local produce, but consider that there is scope to strengthen the Management Plan in order to link traditional processes to sustainable development of the property, as recommended by the Committee at its 28th session: "allowing for agricultural uses to support conservation and ecological objectives of built and natural assets".

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies recommend that the World Heritage Committee invite the State Party to keep the World Heritage Centre informed of any changes concerning this Management Plan and to submit a progress report on the implementation of the Management Plan in the framework of the Periodic Reporting Exercise.