Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape

• Ground transport infrastructure (new infrastructure construction, including new proposed roads)
• Housing (new constructions contributing to the haphazard densification of the main monumental complex)
• Management systems/Management Plan (lack of a coordinated management mechanism)
• Impacts of tourism/visitors/recreation
• Interpretative and Visitation facilities (parking lot and visitor centre)
• Human resources (lack of sufficient professional staff)
• Water infrastructure related to water supply 
• Water infrastructure: hydropower Dam construction

Total amount provided to the property: UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust project: USD 379,040 (1996-1997); Projects funded by Italy through the Lerici Foundation: USD 482,194 (1996-2004, 3 project phases): Phase I (1996-1997), USD 161,124; Phase II (1998-1999), USD 164,000; Phase III (2003-2005), USD 157,070; UNESCO/France Cooperation Agreement: 20,000 EUR (2020-2021) jointly for Vat Phou and the Plain of Jars

A joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission visited the property in December 2023 (mission report available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/481/documents/).

On 1 February 2024, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at the above-mentioned web address. Progress on a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee during previous sessions is presented:

• It is investigating options for funding to finalise the updated Management Plan in response to the recommendations made in the ICOMOS technical review;
• Further elaboration of the Building Code and urban control guidelines are planned to strengthen the control of new construction in the property;
• Issues related to sustainable development, cultural landscape management, nature conservation and tourism management have been given more visibility in the Action Plan 2022-2026
• The updated Management Plan includes provisions from the Champasak Cultural Landscape Plan;
• No funds have been identified for the bypass project. Heavy vehicles are not allowed to use Route 14A;
• A mapping project to produce topographic maps of the property for submission to the World Heritage Centre is ongoing, with the support of the CHAMPA project funded by France (AFD)
• The mitigation measures outlined in the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) on the Champasak Water Supply State Enterprise water supply extension were implemented. A report is provided;
• The National Heritage Law, revised and adopted in 2021, integrates new provisions for HIAs, including for World Heritage properties. Further legal reforms relating to HIAs are being investigated;
• An HIA on the Champa Garden tree planting project has not been completed due to lack of trained personnel. Assistance from the national authorities as well as international experts is requested. Most of the trees planted have died and no further planting is planned;

Infrastructure developments in and around this property have been a source of concern for over a decade. Third-party reports of road construction through the property in 2010 brought the property into the state of conservation monitoring processes, and the need for a Master Plan and a Management Plan for the property, was underlined. The Committee has subsequently considered issues regarding urban development, visiting infrastructure development and landscaping/tree planting, all in the property.

More recently the proposed construction of a dam at Phou Ngoy close to the northern buffer zone of the World Heritage property has intensified concerns for the maintenance of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). While duly honouring the aspiration of the country to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia” by exporting hydropower energy to neighbouring countries through the regional power grid designed to reach ASEAN’s goal of net-zero emissions, the Committee may wish to request that this policy be applied in congruence with the need for preserving the country’s invaluable heritage, in particular the Vat Phou and Luang Prabang World Heritage properties.

None of these development projects were communicated to the Committee prior to their inception, as States Parties are invited to do in Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.

Progress over the last decade includes completion of the Champasak Cultural Landscape Plan and drafting of a Management Plan and their subsequent update. An ICOMOS technical review of the revised Management Plan of November 2022 provided recommendations for its further refinement. The State Party should be encouraged to make resources available to the management unit, to ensure that the Management Plan revision process can be completed. Resource limitations have also curtailed the implementation of another request by the Committee: completing the planned road network, the delay of which leads to continuous vehicular traffic through the property, with consequent systemic negative impacts.

The State Party has made welcome progress in fortifying its conservation legislation, including the revision of National Heritage Law in 2021 enforcing mandatory implementation of HIAs, possibly for all development projects with potential negative impacts on World Heritage properties and the national heritage of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR).

The 2023 Reactive Monitoring mission recommends in particular that:

• The state of conservation of the archaeological structures is generally acceptable, but some areas, specifically the South Quadrangle and the central axis require urgent intervention, and technical cooperation should apply highest international standards aligned with the Lao PDR authorities’ leadership and ownership;
• Non-archaeological structures including the project office, shops and sanitary facilities, constructed after the inscription of the property, should be relocated to lessen any visual impact on the property if these locations are not imperative for providing accessibility to elderly and disabled visitors;
• The property boundaries need to be more clearly defined to effectively protect the OUV of the property, notably its attributes as a cultural landscape. It is important to note that the State Party has implemented a boundary regime which seems to relegate some areas of the property to the status of buffer zone;
• An official buffer zone needs to be established urgently. The State Party is advised to submit a proposal that outlines a buffer zone of which the delineation takes consideration of the important contribution of the landscape setting to the OUV of the property with appropriate protection measures established for the buffer zone;
• Strict control is necessary over the expansion and renewal of the settlements;
• The revision of the 2016 Champasak Cultural Landscape Master Plan needs to be completed to align it with the actual property boundaries and a future buffer zone, after this has been adopted by the Committee;
• Considering potential impacts of the Pho Ngoy Dam on the OUV of the property due to its current projected location close to the archaeological sites on the banks of the Mekong River, it is recommended to explore an alternative location, or consider the validity of the current location through a rigorous impact assessment undertaken on the project, over the full scope of the property’s attributes before irreversible decisions are taken.

The management and conservation of the property need to be framed on the basis of a clearly defined retrospective Statement of OUV (RSOUV). Finalizing the RSOUV and the boundaries of the property and its buffer zone are critical to ensuring its improved management and to providing the baseline for decision-making and impact assessments. As the Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the Phou Ngoy Dam was renewed in February 2023, it would be appropriate for the State Party to submit urgently the ESIA produced for the project, if this project location continues to be explored. The same requirement for Impact Assessments applies to a project with alternative location if it is still within the buffer zone or wider setting of the property. The Committee may wish to request that no further decisions that cannot be reversed be taken to allow as wide a range of mitigation options, including relocation, remain as possibilities to be assessed in the requested HIA.