Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea

• Management (centralized management system to be established, Management Plan to be approved, conservation plan and a monitoring programme to be established, Tourism Strategy and Risk Preparedness Plan to be developed)

N/A

On 4 January 2023, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, an executive summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1654/documents/. Progress on a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented in this report, as follows:

• As part of the legal designation of the property in the State Code of Especially Valuable Properties of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation, properties must already be designated as cultural heritage sites of federal significance. This process is ongoing for six sites within the White Sea component and five sites within the Onega Lake component. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and management restructuring, these procedures have been delayed but should be completed within the first half of 2023;
• Regarding a centralized management system, in November 2021, a Petroglyphs of Karelia Unit was established at the National Museum of Karelia. An independent State Centre for the Management, Conservation and Study of the Petroglyphs of Karelia was planned to be established before the end of 2022. It will be tasked with the coordination and management of the two components of the property, with a branch for each component;
• A revised Management Plan (2021-2027) was approved at the first meeting of the Coordination Council for the management of the property. The Plan has short-term (2021-2022), medium-term (2023-2024) and long-term (2025-2027) programmes. Details are provided on a conservation monitoring programme. A Risk Management Plan for the property is included along with a detailed interdisciplinary Research Plan, linked with conservation strategies;
• In 2022, a digital documentation system was developed, which provides a range of information on the petroglyphs, maintenance and conservation history, management, visitor flows and maintenance of protection processes;
• Progress is reported on the development of a tourism strategy for the property. However, government agencies responsible for tourism development at both regional and federal levels have been closed, resulting in delays;
• The State Party notes several activities aimed at improving the visitor experience in the White Sea component, in particular at the Zalavruga site;
• In January 2022, the State Party submitted revised maps of the modified boundaries of the two components and their respective buffer zones, along with a progress report on the establishment of two Remarkable Places of Federal Significance covering the buffer zones.

Progress has been made in relation to some of the World Heritage Committee’s recommendations. Useful clarification has been provided regarding the Risk Management Plan and the Research Plan. However, important elements of the recommendations have not been fully addressed and require further work.

In relation to legal protection, the process of protecting the property by including it in the State Code of Especially Valuable Properties of Cultural Heritage should be completed in the first half of 2023. However, the State Party states that ‘cultural heritage sites in the territory of the Russian Federation inscribed to the World Heritage List are automatically included to the State Code’. It is thus recommended that the Committee request the State Party to clarify the situation regarding the legal protection of the property.

As requested, the State Party, in January 2022, submitted revised maps of the modified boundaries of the two components and their respective buffer zones. ICOMOS reviewed the maps and advised that they are adequate. Additional documentation on the petroglyph sites located within the proposed boundaries was requested to complete the Nomination dossier. Noting that the inscription of the property on the World Heritage List under Criterion (iii) refers to the petroglyphs and the related archaeological sites, detailed information should be provided on the archaeological sites that have been included in the revised property boundaries to understand the full range of attributes of the property and how they underpin its Outstanding Universal Value.

Formal establishment of a centralized management system is welcomed. The Committee may wish to recommend that the establishment of the State Centre for the Management, Conservation and Study of the Petroglyphs of Karelia is confirmed and that a detailed review is provided of its progress in implementing the short- and medium-term programmes of the Management Plan.

It is noted that while some aspects of the management system appear robust and progress has been made in some areas, the Management Plan needs to be strengthened. For example, in response to World Heritage Committee’s recommendations, implementation dates are provided in the accompanying Action Plan, but otherwise deadlines are to be determined ‘on the basis of a dynamic approach to management planning’. The conservation monitoring programme is not linked to a detailed conservation plan and limited detail is provided on the establishment of baseline data and monitoring indicators.

It is recommended that the World Heritage Committee request the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, as a matter of priority, an augmented and strengthened Management Plan and associated Action Plan, including the new documentation system, comprehensive Conservation, Risk Management and Research Plans (noting that the latter two have been provided) and a visitor/tourism strategy, which include details of baseline data and monitoring protocols for conservation work, risk assessment, visitor satisfaction, community involvement and broader environmental indicators. The Committee may also wish to recommend the use of Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0 in this process.