Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape

• High-rise hotel development;
• Large-scale heart clinic development (issue resolved)

On 27 November 2020, upon request from the World Heritage Centre, the State Party of Hungary submitted a report on the state of conservation of the Hungarian component of the property; its executive summary is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/772/documents/.

In December 2021, the World Heritage Centre requested a joint state of conservation report following several third-party reports of potential threats to the property related to the planned Sopron Fertő Lake Resort project within the boundaries of the property, on the shore of the lake in Hungary.

An ICOMOS Technical Review of the 2020 state of conservation report by Hungary was transmitted to the State Party of Hungary in May 2021, to which the State Party of Hungary provided comments on 20 December 2021. ICOMOS provided its comments to the two States Parties on 16 June 2022.

On 28 February 2022, the States Parties submitted a joint state of conservation report for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its extended 45th session. The executive summary is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/772/documents/.

The 2022 joint report provides information on the management system in place at the property and on recently adopted measures to reinforce it, as follows:

• In Austria, the ‘Lake Neusiedl World Heritage Association’ is the designated management organisation of the Fertő/Lake Neusiedl World Heritage Site in the Austrian/Burgenland part. The association implements, coordinates and initiates measures for the protection of the site. The most important instrument of the association, in addition to the existing management plan, is the ‘Criteria for Building in the World Heritage Site’ (since 2008/2009), which specifies the size at which construction projects in the region are ‘relevant’ to the World Heritage property and must be submitted to the ‘World Heritage Planning Advisory Board’ for review;
• In Hungary, all functions related to the protection of cultural heritage, including World Heritage, have been concentrated within the Prime Minister’s Office, and Government Decree 335/2019 was issued to implement the World Heritage Act 2011. In 2020, World Heritage Planning Councils were introduced and, in 2021, a set of measures established to improve impact assessment of projects. In January 2022, a Hungarian World Heritage Council was established. The ‘Fertőtáj World Heritage Hungarian Council Association’ is the site manager on the Hungarian side of the property; it includes the municipalities around the Lake Fertő as members;
• A Common Landscape Observatory is being developed by Austria and Hungary within an EU-funded INTERREG project.

The report provides the following information with regard to the Sopron Fertő Lake Resort project:

• The project area is on lakeshore land that was re-claimed between 1966 and 1992 through subsequent interventions. It was previously used for low-key tourism purposes and has long awaited rehabilitation;
• The project is articulated into two phases, with a total project area amounting to an extension ranging between 37.35 and 52.77 ha. It envisages the creation of a new canal and construction of an eco-centre, eco-park, 4-star hotel complex, main building, holiday resort, holiday terraced houses in front of the lake, two motel buildings, 37 bungalows, 25 motorhomes and 45 places for tents, as well as construction of new vehicular and pedestrian bridges, paths, new lagoons, a sports centre, two tourist ports for more than 1,200 vessels and parking for over 1,200 cars;
• Key project data are provided in the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) carried out for Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the project, reporting approximately 28,800 m² of built-up area in total, 49,200 m³ of built volume for Phase II, 321,000 m³ of dredging, 267,000 m³ of backfilling, and a paved surface of over 139,000 m² and a green surface of 215,000 m²;
• In operation, the project is expected to receive 4,400 users a day during peak season;
• According to the States Parties, this is the only viable area for tourism development and the only development envisaged along the Hungarian lakeshore, and EIAs carried out on the proposed development have not identified negative impacts on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) or other heritage values. The project does not fall among those compulsorily subjected to transboundary EIAs.

On 21 December 2021, the States Parties submitted a joint letter concerning the development of the new joint Management Plan and the Sopron Fertő Lake Resort project.

On 20 January 2022, the World Heritage Centre transmitted to the States Parties a statement of the Department of Biological Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on the Sopron Fertő Lake Resort project, expressing concerns that the project would result in multiplying tourist pressures on the environment of the property and causing damage to its flora and fauna.

Two meetings with the Austrian and Hungarian authorities were held to discuss the state of conservation of the property and the Sopron Fertő Lake Resort project in particular: on 28 January 2022, with the World Heritage Centre and on 23 February 2022, online, with the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS, IUCN and the Ramsar Secretariat.

On 16 June 2022, the World Heritage Centre transmitted to the States Parties third-party comments to the executive summary of the joint state of conservation report published on the World Heritage Centre’s website.

On 3 March 2023, the State Party of Hungary informed the World Heritage Centre that the Government had suspended in June 2022 the planning and construction works of the Sopron Fertő Lake Resort, that the design of potential alternatives was underway and that details would be shared with the World Heritage Centre when available.

In relation to tourism development in Austria, the report explains the following:

• No further expansion of the Mörbisch Lake stage is foreseen, and the proposed expansion of Breitenbrunn Beach has been subject to planning and consultation rounds that have resulted in a suitable concept;
• A plan (2016) for a hotel at Neusiedl am See was not continued, but associated holiday flats were built. The planning framework has since changed, and new zoning will be restricted in the vicinity of the lake. No plans currently exist for further development;
• Pressures on the northern side of the lake exist due to the vicinity of Vienna and Bratislava. In 2021, Burgenland Province amended the 2019 Burgenland Spatial Planning Act to counteract these factors, which will be further addressed in the new management plan;
• The regional development programme, which provides the framework for development restrictions at the municipal level, was reported to be in preparation, with adoption expected in 2022. Local development concepts have become mandatory and must be approved by Burgenland Province;
• Efforts to curb sprawling caused by the shopping centre expansion are underway.

Other reported issues include:

• The repowering of wind turbines at Weiden am See is proposed. A study of visual impacts through elaborate and state-of-the-art visualisation techniques has been undertaken, but not submitted to the World Heritage Centre yet;
• Regarding the recorded shortage of water in the lake since 2014, plans exist to divert water from the Mosoni-Duna to feed the Seewinkel groundwater body and Fertő-Neusiedl Lake. Preliminary studies suggest the suitability of the operation if specified conditions are respected.

On 23 March 2023, Hungary submitted a brief update reporting indicating that the Lébény-Hanyi Irrigation Canal project had been suspended, although the planned section of the canal was not considered to influence the water regime of the lake. The State Party also reported that the Austro-Hungarian Water Commission had not reached agreement on how to supply water to the lake to prevent it from drying up and that further analysis was required to make an informed decision. Lastly, Hungary reported that World Heritage matters have been transferred to the Ministry of Construction and Transport with a view to ensuring that developments at World Heritage properties are implemented without impairing their OUV.

In 2023, Austria did not submit an update to the state of conservation report submitted in 2022.

On 25 April 2023, the World Heritage Centre received an invitation from the States Parties for a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Advisory mission to the property on the following main issues: the redesign of the Sopron-Fertő Lake Resort project, the Lakeside Resort in Breitenbrunn already under construction, the water supply to Lake Fertő-Neusiedl and wind turbines in the vicinity of the property. The States Parties also invited the Ramsar Convention Secretariat to participate in this mission as an observer. The Advisory mission will take place in October 2023.

The States Parties show a willingness to strengthen their collaboration in jointly managing the property, through organizing meetings and developing a joint monitoring observatory.

Tourism-related development pressures at the property are not new, especially on the Austrian side, where several tourism facilities already existed at the time of nomination. The property’s inscription has not brought development reduction, and its Retrospective Statement of OUV recognizes that tourism impacts on ‘genuinely unchanging qualities of the way of life […] based upon a traditional and sustainable exploitation of a limited range of resources’, a key value of the property, and that ‘insertion of intrusively modern construction will need to be controlled’. In this regard, it appears necessary that the ‘Criteria for Building in the World Heritage Site’ be revised and the need for assessing impacts of proposed developments be based on their potential to adversely impact the OUV of the property and its supporting attributes and not on the size of the proposals. In fact, significantly negative impacts on OUV can be caused also by developments of limited size.

The Sopron Fertő Lake Resort project therefore cannot be considered in isolation, even if it is presented as the only development proposal on the Hungarian side, as Fertő/Neusiedlersee is one landscape system, already prone to the effects of development.

The project is sited in an artificially created area that needs rehabilitation, but the development proposes massive further artificialization of the area and substantial increase of built volumes, aiming to serve more than 4,000 users a day in high season, with significant impacts on the property’s natural and cultural attributes. The Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), annexed to the state of conservation report in 2020, presents significant flaws in its evaluation of impacts. The conclusion that the project’s impacts will be mostly positive or neutral appears unconvincing. The decision to carry out separate EIAs, annexed to the state of conservation report in 2020, for the two project phases has not facilitated a comprehensive assessment of impacts; furthermore, it appears that neither EIA considers transboundary impacts. Consultations requested by the relevant Hungarian authorities, and referenced in the States Parties report, mention caveats regarding the development’s excessive size, such as reducing the planned built-up areas and removing traffic-generating activities, but these have not been considered.

Water shortages recorded at the lake have triggered proposals for remedial actions; additional development pressure on the lake will increase water consumption. Hence, despite the EIA and HIA conclusions, serious concerns about the scope of the project’s potential adverse impacts on the property remain. The considerable scale of most of the buildings and facilities is very different from those that previously existed and is not consistent with ‘the present character of landscape’ nor the ‘remarkable rural architecture’ noted as an attribute of OUV of the property. The architectural expression has no relationship to the locale and does not respect the property’s integrity, which ‘is based on […] regional and historic characteristics’, such as ‘the traditional and partly rural character of the settlements’ and the ‘vernacular architecture and a landscape based upon a traditional and sustainable exploitation of a limited range of resources.’

The project implies substantial new development and envisages a type and intensity of use that cannot be considered a continuation of the lake’s ‘bathing tradition’ and would cause increased pressure on this sensitive ecological and socio-cultural system. The visual impact of the project in its current architectural design would impair the close surroundings. The Visual Impact Assessment’s visualizations examine long-distance views, while short-distance views would show the project’s impairment of the almost-natural character of the lakeshore landscape. The development’s carbon and ecological footprints are also key aspects to be considered, alongside the substantial increase in motorized traffic. As currently configured, the project would lead to extensive artificialization, a significant increase in water resource exploitation and a large increase in traffic, with impacts on local settlements that would not seem to receive any benefits from the project, which includes all leisure functions within the same area and is planned some kilometres away from the closest village.

If this location is seen as the only possible area for tourist development on the Hungarian side, a more inclusive and sustainable approach would be highly desirable that allows local communities to derive some benefits. A significantly downsized proposal in terms of built volumes, created tourism facilities and prospective users along the lakeshore should be seriously considered, together with dispersed locations for other structures away from the lakeshore, and, where possible, the use of renewable materials that respect this highly sensitive location and are consistent with the traditional built environment.

Although development on the Austrian side is reportedly now significantly restricted via planning mechanisms, projects have been implemented until very recently and pressures continue.

Before any finalization of the Sopron Fertő Lake Resort project, it would be highly desirable that a joint approach to tourism development could be agreed. An updated, jointly carried out inventory of existing and planned tourism facilities along the entirety of the lakeshore and an assessment of the cumulated adverse impacts that existing and planned development, including the Sopron Fertő Lake Resort, have had or may have on the property, would be indispensable before proceeding with any project. This would form the basis for laying down joint strategies for achieving a sustainable, equitable and shared use of the lakeshore, including for tourism purposes. Such an assessment should also consider how water consumption in the lake region, particularly for civil and tourism purposes, impacts on the water supply to the hydraulic lake system, which is vulnerable due to progressive water shortage. In this regard, the proposal to divert waters from the Mosoni-Duna to feed the Seewinkel groundwater body and Fertő-Neusiedl Lake may cause significant changes in the lake’s hydrological system and would need to undergo a thorough and rigorous transboundary HIA. In this regard, both States Parties should consider suspending the planning of tourism-related development projects along the lakeshore, until such an inventory of all existing and planned tourism facilities has been jointly established by both States Parties.

With regard to the potential repowering of wind turbines at Weiden am See, the information that an impact assessment is being carried out is welcomed, but the outcomes of such an assessment should be submitted for consideration by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies before any final decision is taken.

The States Parties’ invitation for an Advisory mission to the property is welcomed.

The information provided by the State Party of Hungary in March 2023 that the Sopron Fertő Lake Resort project and the Lébény-Hanyi Irrigation Canal planned section were suspended in 2022 is to be welcomed; this will allow enough time to carry out the above-mentioned joint inventory of tourism facilities and for the Advisory mission to provide relevant advice to both States Parties.