Old Town of Ghadamès

• Conflict situation prevailing in the country  

Not yet identified

Not yet identified

On 8 February 2019, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report. An executive summary of this report is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/362/documents/. Progress in a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented in this report, as follows:

• The necessary measures for the maintenance and restoration of buildings damaged during the heavy rains of 2017 have been established, including the preparation of a bill of quantities for each building and the financial support of 800,000 Libyan Dinars (USD 570,000) from the Libyan Government for urgent maintenance works. Several contracts have been signed with specialized companies to carry out maintenance and restoration work, which is planned to be completed by autumn 2019. Based on the opinions of local maintenance experts and CRAterre, however, it was not possible to manufacture mud bricks or construct with them during the past autumn;
• Several activities have been carried out in close coordination with the local community, which is committed to the conservation of the property and has invested in the actions undertaken. House owners within the property are aware of its historical and cultural importance, and contribute to its conservation;
• Other activities include the documentation of the entire city’s heritage according to specific criteria, as well as the design of an open Geographic Information System (GIS) for the documentation, inventory and presentation of the property. The Ghadamès City Promotion and Development Authority has made arrangements for the presentation and marketing of the property. The designation of the historic Tilouan School as a tourist information centre helped achieve this objective. Further developments include the adoption of a land use regulation plan within the property and the proposed buffer zone, and the preparation of a risk preparedness plan;
• The boundary clarification adopted in 2018 has been shared with the Municipality of Ghadamès, the Ghadamès City Promotion and Development Authority and the Urban Planning Authority for protection and conservation purposes;
• The Department of Antiquities (DoA) has participated in the “Training in Action” programme for capacity building in fields such as preventive conservation, management, recording and documentation.

There have been no security violations or specific threat to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, therefore the State Party requests the Committee to remove the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger. To this end, the State Party has formally invited a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to assess the state of conservation of the property.

The information provided by the State Party demonstrates its commitment to the conservation of the property, despite the prevailing conflict. Progress is being made regarding the analysis of the situation at the property. The allocation of funds for emergency maintenance works and the efforts being made by the State Party to elaborate regulatory and management tools, such as the risk preparedness plan, are welcomed. The State Party should consider an International Assistance request in order to address the necessary planning and implementation of comprehensive conservation and restoration actions that would ensure the property’s integrity and authenticity.

Detailed information on the ongoing conservation and restoration works has not been submitted, nor has any information been received by the World Heritage Centre on the development of land use within the boundaries of property and the proposed buffer zone. Information about these and any other plans for major restoration or new construction projects that may affect the OUV of the property needs to be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse, in conformity with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.

The commitment and interest of the local communities and owners in maintaining and conserving the property is welcomed. It is recommended that the Committee encourage them to continue their efforts to maintain its OUV and to prepare a management plan for the property following the approach of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL).

The effort made to clarify the property’s boundary is recognized as an indispensable step towards its effective protection and management. The ongoing close consultation with the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS concerning the definition of an appropriate buffer zone is appreciated. It is recommended that the Committee reiterate its appeal to the State Party to continue this cooperation, in line with Paragraph 164 of the Operational Guidelines.

With the commencement of the third cycle of the Periodic Reporting exercise, the State Party has expressed its willingness to initiate the elaboration of management plans for all five of its World Heritage properties, and will seek international support to achieve this objective. It also reported on the increasing awareness by civil society, local and national authorities, and high-level decision-makers about the necessity to protect cultural heritage in Libya, including World Heritage properties. The organization of workshops and symposiums on the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties has emphasized the importance of their protection and conservation, linking national identity with cultural heritage.

It is recommended that the State Party continue to orient the important efforts made in conserving the property in line with the strategy developed during the International Meeting on the Safeguard of Libyan Cultural Heritage, held in Tunis in May 2016 (report available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1496), building on the short-, medium- and long-term measures identified during that meeting.

The recent escalation of violence raises much concern about the sustainability of the efforts made to conserve the Old Town of Ghadamès, as the situation prevents the State Party from undertaking necessary actions to protect and conserve the property. It remains essential that the joint mission invited by the State Party and requested by the Committee at its 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) and 41st (Krakow, 2017) sessions takes place as soon as the security conditions permit. In the meantime, it is important that the State Party pursues its efforts to keep the Committee, through the World Heritage Centre, updated on the situation on the ground, as well as on the further implementation of the measures it has launched, while addressing, to the extent possible, the comments and requests made by the Committee.

It is recommended that the Committee call upon the international community to support the State Party in its conservation efforts.

Considering the above-mentioned information, it is recommended that the Committee retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.