Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor

• Earthquake damage (issue resolved)
• Lack of buffer zone (issue resolved)
• Lack of Management Planning/system
• Inadequate legal system
• Accelerated urban development and urban pressure
• Proposed major bridge at Verige and other proposed development projects
• Major visitor accommodation and associated infrastructure
• Effects arising from use of transportation infrastructure
• Land conversion
• Society’s valuing of heritage
• Changes in traditional ways of life and knowledge system
• Impacts of tourism/visitor/recreation

A joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission visited the property in October-November 2018 (mission report available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/125/documents/). Subsequently, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report on 29 March 2019, together with 5 annexes (Annexes 4 and 5 were not provided in translation), which is also available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/125/documents/. Progress in a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented in this report, as follows:

• The 2018 mission report’s numerous recommendations are being used to inform the actions listed below;
• The draft Kotor Municipality Spatial Plan was submitted (5 April 2019), including some public consultation and the integration of feedback from the 2018 mission;
• Preparation of new Amendments of the Law on Protection of Natural and Culturo-historic Region of Kotor by a recently-formed working group is underway;
• Following the ICOMOS May 2018 Technical Review of the Heritage Impact Assessment for Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor for Harmonizing Policy/Planning Framework and Instruments, a team has been working on implementing the suggestions;
• The process of revising the Management Plan has started and includes an assessment of the current status of the buffer zone and its future protection;
• The moratorium on new construction will continue until the Kotor Municipality Spatial Plan and revised Management Plan are in place;
• The proposed project for a cable car to St John’s Fortress has been abandoned;
• A Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for a tourist village at Glavati-Prčanj was completed in July 2018. Following the ICOMOS December 2018 technical review, it was decided not to implement the project.

Some other issues are also reported by the State Party:

• A Regional Workshop on Heritage Impact Assessment was held in Kotor to build capacity among practitioners in the region. It was organized with ICCROM experts and thanks to the support of the World Heritage Centre and the UNESCO Regional Bureau;
• The State Party reported its interest in granting permission for building an accommodation complex in the settlement of Morinj, located in the buffer zone.

In addition, it should be noted that the World Heritage Centre was contacted by several local stakeholders concerned with the drafting of the Spatial Plan, various development projects and the property’s state of conservation.

Progress has been made on a number of fronts, and ongoing dialogue between the State Party, the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS is helping to inform results. The recommendations of the 2018 mission cover the many challenges faced by the property and are being taken into consideration by the State Party as work progresses. Ongoing efforts to integrate World Heritage approaches into national and local legislation and planning for the long-term protection and management of the property should be recognized.

However, further improvements are needed. The draft Spatial Plan for Kotor Municipality was adopted by the Government of Montenegro on 4 April 2019. ICOMOS will provide in-depth analysis in a technical review but it is likely that the plan will need to integrate additional multidisciplinary contributions and guarantee genuine public consultation. It should not be forgotten that there are other municipalities within the World Heritage property and similar planning should be taken forward for the whole property, buffer zone and wider setting. These issues should also be addressed within the revised Management Plan and the upgraded HIA “for Harmonizing Policy/Planning Framework and Instruments.” Similarly, it is important to monitor the progress made by the working group preparing the new Amendments of the Law on Protection of Natural and Culturo-historic Region of Kotor.

With regard to the number of development projects that continue to be proposed in and around the property, it is positive to see that the projects for St John’s Fortress cable car and the Glavati-Prčanj tourist village have been abandoned in order to protect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). However, it is of concern that there is a dissonance between the conclusions of the HIAs carried out for these projects and the ICOMOS technical reviews, with the State Party making decisions on the basis of ICOMOS’ recommendations, rather than the HIA conclusions. Impact assessment methodologies were created in order to support better decision-making and therefore the HIA process needs to be improved to provide opportunities to build consensus based on solid values analysis, clear evidence-based evaluations of impacts and solutions that bring benefits to both the heritage and the local community. It is hoped that the recent workshop on HIA will have provided support to the State Party in this area and that they will continue to promote capacity-building for HIA where it is needed. This is particularly important for the HIAs currently being developed for Verige bridge and the Morinj accommodation complex.

Finally, while significant effort is being devoted to work in all these key areas, there is a need to bring together these results into the management plan currently undergoing revision, so that it becomes a fully operational instrument for the efficient management of the entire World Heritage property and its buffer zone, with binding policies and provisions endorsed at national and local government level within the changing legal framework. In addition, the management plan should include an assessment of the state of conservation of both tangible and intangible attributes (in particular disused or decaying historic buildings) and specific actions to ensure their conservation. It should also address disaster risk reduction and the challenges of tourism management.