Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” (Al-Maghtas)

• Lack of integration of the management procedures on maintenance, visitor management and disaster response in the management system
• Lack of design and construction guidelines for the Churches to be constructed in the buffer zone
• Need to ensure the protection of the western banks of the Jordan River to preserve important vistas and sightlines of the property

On 25 October 2016, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1446/documents/, informing that the changes required by the Committee’s decision had been included in a revised nomination dossier and management plan.  These documents were provided, along with a copy of the construction activity moratorium.

In particular, the management plan now incorporates provisions for maintenance (Implementation Guidance for Maintenance), visitor management (Sustainable Tourism and Visitor Management) and disaster response, as well as guidelines for churches that might be constructed in the buffer zone.

Overall, the management plan presents information about the identification and description of the property, an assessment and analysis of values, the existing and previous site conservation and interpretation works, the tourism and management context. It provides policies and objectives related to site conservation, maintenance, interpretation and presentation, tourism and visitor management as well as site management, details about future strategies, actions and guidance about monitoring.

Maintenance and visitor management are addressed at both the policy and objective levels, as well as in future strategies and actions.  The section on maintenance included within future strategies and actions reflects a structured approach, includes key actions, responsibility, and frequency of maintenance.  The disaster response text identifies the main and other threats to the property, and measures to prevent or respond to disasters.  The guidelines for church construction in the buffer zone are part of future strategies and actions.

On 21 August 2016, the State Party informed the World Heritage Centre by letter that high electricity towers with a negative visual impact had been built on the other side of the Jordan River.

The reported progress by the State Party on the development of the management plan is acknowledged, which includes all of the recommended components, these being management procedures on maintenance, visitor management and disaster response.

The policy and objectives text regarding maintenance is relatively short but adequate, while the text included within future strategies actions is more detailed. Overall, the guidance provided on maintenance appears to be adequate.

In the case of visitor management, the policy and objectives text is also brief, and while it suggests areas for policy development, these are not actually provided in this section.  On the other hand, the text within future strategies and actions is again more detailed providing both some policy framework as well as specific visitor management actions.  This guidance also appears adequate.

The disaster response text is generally adequate except in the case of earthquake response, which only refers to who issues orders but not what actions will protect the property.

The management plan also includes the recommended design and construction guidelines for Churches, which are to be constructed in the buffer zone.  While brief, they provide a framework of guidance for future Church construction. The guidelines do not address a range of possible issues, such as the height of new constructions, visibility from the property, colours to be used or avoided (although the guidelines indicate that visual pollution is not acceptable, and also the need for harmonizing with the setting), as well as overall masterplanning for the buffer zone to manage developments in the landscape.  

The implementation of the guidelines should be finalized in close cooperation with the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS in future reviews of the management plan; the State Party needs to submit all construction projects to the World Heritage Centre for review, in conformity with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.