Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Western Stato da Mar

• Lack of a framework for ‘Heritage Impact Assessment’ for development proposals
• Need to revise the buffer zones 
• Lack of management plans for each component 
• Intrusive and redundant elements within the serial components
• Lack of a Tourism Carrying Capacity study and of visitor management plans
• Lack of a transnational values-based conservation strategy

On 29 November 2019, the States Parties submitted a joint report on the state of conservation of the transnational serial property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1533/documents. Additional information was submitted on 31 January 2020. The reports address recommendations made at the time of the inscription of the property in 2017 (Decision 41 COM 8B.21), as follows:

• The Management Plan for the transnational property is valid and listed network projects are being implemented and an international coordinating team for the monitoring of the property was created in January 2019;
• The inventory of the attributes of the property for the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) framework has begun;
• Conservation efforts and resources deployed at the Fortified Cities of Peschiera del Garda and Bergamo and at the City Fortress of Palmanova, including a project to create an ascent and panoramic outlook point at the aqueduct’s piezometric tower, are reported. A study for conservation works was completed for the Fort of St Nikola in Šibenik-Knin County; no specific information for the Defensive System of Zadar and the City of Kotor is included;
• Studies for revising/enlarging the buffer zone have begun in Peschiera del Garda; its revision is being prepared in Kotor, while in Zadar the present buffer zone is considered appropriate;
• Promotion activities took place in Palmanova, Peschiera del Garda and Bergamo. In Zadar, guidelines and conservation study programmes have been initiated, and funds secured for the Zadar Management Plan. The finalized Management Plan for the Fort of St Nikola was expected by the end of 2019. No update on the elaboration of the management plans is provided for Palmanova, Peschiera del Garda and Bergamo. The Management Plan for the World Heritage property “Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor” is being updated to address the recommendations of the 2018 mission, and will be integrated with the Spatial Urban Plan and influence future relevant legislation in Montenegro;
• Carrying capacity studies are underway for Bergamo, Palmanova and Peschiera del Garda and will be finalised in 2020, and drafting of visitor management plans for Italian components is planned for 2020. A tourist development plan 2016 – 2026 is in place in Zadar. The Management Plan for the Fort of St Nikola will address visitor and risk management issues. A Cultural Tourism Strategy is expected to be adopted for Montenegro, after which a local strategy will be discussed;
• Technical workshops are organized for developing a transnational values-based conservation strategy. Fondazione Bergamo has been delegated to improve the transnational property and to support the activities of the transnational secretariat;
• Projects concerning some of the components are as follows:
  • Bergamo: updates on the underground Fara parking structure adjacent to the Upper City walls (property and buffer zone) are summarised. This project has been the subject of third–party correspondence, and a discussion between the State Party and the World Heritage Centre,
  • Zadar: an international competition for the renewal of the Citadela Bastion, the EU-funded Zadar Heritage Project, including revitalization of 785m of the northern part of city walls, and the “Ravnice Project”, near Forte Fort, are reported,
  • Šibenik: provisions are in place to guarantee control over projects. A visitor centre located in Minerska Bay in the buffer zone is mentioned,
  • Kotor: a project for a cable car from the Old Town to the fortress S. Giovanni was cancelled, although alternatives will continue to be explored;
• Between 2018 and 2019, Zadar municipality removed 157 parking spaces along the northern parts of the walls. No progress is reported on the relocation of intrusive developments in Kotor.

The States Parties have made some progress in the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations, namely by establishing the International Coordinating Team and approving its functioning procedures, and by advancing in the conservation of the property, although initiatives and progress remain uneven.

Progress in addressing other recommendations appears to be limited: the HIA framework is still at an early stage, with only the preliminary identification of the attributes of the property and its component parts being prepared. The process of modifying the buffer zones has been advanced, particularly at the component of Peschiera del Garda, where preliminary inventory of the later fortifications has been carried out. In Kotor, the revision has just begun, following Decision 42 COM 8B.38, while the buffer zone in Zadar is considered adequate as it is; however, no explanation is provided by the State Party to support its position, and the need for expanding the buffer zone as requested by the World Heritage Committee still holds valid, also in light of development projects being planned. Progress in preparing the individual Management Plans is reported only for the Fort of St Nikola, for which the Plan is in the drafting phase and will have to be coordinated with the Integrated Coastal Zone Plan but no information has been provided on whether progress has been made in preparing the individual Management Plans at other components, as recommended in Decision 41 COM 8B.21.

For the planned car park project in Bergamo, two ICOMOS Technical Reviews have been provided, the latest of which (December 2019) advises again the State Party to prepare an HIA focused on the impact of the project to the Bergamo component and to elaborate a comprehensive parking and traffic plan. Moreover, it provides further recommendations and points out mitigation measures, which the State Party should be advised to follow.

No advancement is reported on the relocation of visually intrusive urban and industrial developments within Kotor. However, it should be noted that the state of conservation of this component of the property is reviewed in conjunction with the report on the state of conservation of the World Heritage property “Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor” (see draft Decision 44 COM 7B.50). The Amendments of the Law on Protection of Natural and Culturo-historic Region of Kotor were passed in order to offer increased clarity on the application of HIAs while awaiting the adoption of the revised Management Plan.

Tourism carrying capacity studies are proceeding slowly, and so is the elaboration of visitor management plans. The World Heritage Committee may therefore wish to recommend the expedition of the completion of these studies and plans. The first steps of developing a common Outstanding Universal Value-based conservation strategy are underway but much work remains to be done for its achievement.

The States Parties have begun to work on the identification of attributes and the preliminary results are promising, although further deepening is necessary to achieve a complete spectrum of the attributes useful for management and conservation purposes.