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Kathmandu Valley

Nepal
Factors affecting the property in 2024*
  • Air transport infrastructure
  • Earthquake
  • Ground transport infrastructure
  • Housing
  • Management systems/ management plan
  • Underground transport infrastructure
  • Water infrastructure
Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
  • Earthquake (Severe earthquake of 25 April 2015)
  • Housing (Uncontrolled urban development resulting in the loss of traditional urban fabric, in particular privately-owned houses)
  • Management systems/management plan (Lack of a coordinated management mechanism)
  • Ground transport infrastructure (Construction of a forest road)
  • Underground transport infrastructure (Project for tunnel road in Pashupati Monument Zone)
  • Air transport infrastructure (Project for the extension of the Kathmandu International Airport)
  • Services Infrastructures (Water Infrastructure/ Wastewater Management Project of Patan Durbar Square Monument Zone Sewer Project)
UNESCO Extra-Budgetary Funds until 2024

Total amount granted: USD 10 million (1979-2001) from the International Safeguarding Campaign launched by UNESCO; USD 45,000 (2005) and USD 20,000 (2011) from UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust. Several UNESCO extra-budgetary projects have been approved since 2015 for the emergency safeguarding, conservation and rehabilitation process of the Kathmandu Valley after the 2015 earthquake. They include USD 1 million from the Chinese Hainan Airlines Group (Cihang Foundation), USD 250,000 from the Hong Kong based Fok Foundation, USD 145,000 from the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust, USD 100,000 from the Nepal Investment Bank, USD 41,804 from French Oriental Cultural Heritage Sites Protection Alliance and USD 30,000 from voluntary contributions to the World Heritage Fund by the Republic of Korea.

International Assistance: requests for the property until 2024
Requests approved: 16 (from 1979-2015)
Total amount approved : 417,619 USD
Missions to the property until 2024**

February 2003: joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS mission; April 2007: joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission; March 2011: UNESCO Advisory Mission with international experts; November 2011: joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission; October-November 2015: joint World Heritage Centre /ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission; March 2017: joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission; October 2019: joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission

Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2024

On 31 January 2024, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/121/documents/ and provides the following information:

  • Following the establishment of the International Scientific Committee for Kathmandu Valley (ISC-KV), required activities for the property have been identified as: (1) post-earthquake recovery and lessons learned, (2) improved management, and (3) capacity building and training. The ISC-KV is facilitating values-based conservation management planning;
  • Support from the international community and the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu is welcome, and further assistance is sought for capacity building and training, use of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), procedures for the protection of urban housing and ancient settlements, values-based conservation and management planning and socio-economic revitalisation;
  • Most of the conservation and restoration work for earthquake-damaged monuments within the property’s seven Protected Monument Zones, has been completed, including Hanuman Dhoka Palace. A tabular summary of post-earthquake conservation status presents completed, ongoing, and remaining works;
  • At the recommendation of the ISC-KV, a final ‘Recovery Plan: Remaining Activities Report’ is in preparation, and a ‘Post-disaster Recovery: Lessons Learned Report’ will also be prepared;
  • The Integrated Management Framework (IMF) has yet to be reviewed; the version submitted with the report is dated 2021;
  • The following sector strategies will be prepared: Heritage Conservation Management Plan (including cyclical maintenance), Urban Planning, Subsurface Archaeology, Community and Sustainable Development, Disaster Risk Management, and Visitor Management;
  • A new Master Plan for Pashupati Protected Monument Zone was developed by an expert committee and has been adopted. Once translated from Nepali into English, it will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre;
  • Responses are provided to the main recommendations of the 2019 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission;
  • The State Party is committed to recovering urban and ancient settlements within the property. However, the loss of traditional housing remains an issue, as protecting living heritage and private housing presents challenges;
  • Uncontrolled development in the monument and buffer zones is being addressed through the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Property Coordinative Working Committee, focusing on minimising the impact of new urban infrastructure;
  • The Government of Nepal has adopted Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) procedures. Development works either accord with the IMF or are subject to HIAs;
  • The State Party will keep the World Heritage Centre informed about the proposed expansion of the Ring Road at Swayambhu;
  • The annexes of the report provide revised documentation for the Patan Durbar Square Monument Zone sewer project.
Analysis and Conclusion by World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2024

Following the devastating Gorkha earthquake in 2015, progress has been made towards recovery, restoration and reconstruction efforts critical to preserving the integrity, authenticity, and attributes that support the property's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The formation of the ISC-KV has played a pivotal role, with its recommendations and those from Reactive Monitoring missions significantly contributing to long-term recovery and preservation efforts. The State Party has addressed a wide array of recommendations put forward by the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission and during the inaugural meeting of the ISC-KV, highlighting its role in guiding the recovery, conservation, and management of the property. The State Party should continue to provide the Committee with detailed updates on the implementation of the ISC-KV’s recommendations. Furthermore, in response to the State Party’s requests, the Committee may wish to encourage the international community to provide further resources to ensure the participation of international experts within the ISC-KV framework.

As previously noted, the property's authenticity has been adversely affected by the introduction of new materials and the reconstruction of some buildings based on conjecture rather than scientific evidence. However, despite challenges, much of the essential conservation and restoration work on monuments within the Protected Monument Zones that suffered damage due to the earthquake has been completed. The development of sector strategies to support the ongoing conservation and management of the property is underway, and the ISC-KV’s review will be essential to ensure that these strategies comprehensively address the enduring threats to the property.

The “Recovery Plan: Remaining Activities Report” is anticipated to address residual challenges, including the overlooked aspects of urban and ancient settlements, the erosion of traditional housing, and the adverse impacts of unsympathetic development and new urban infrastructure. This Report should be in line with the UNESCO 2011 HUL Recommendation and encapsulate a socio-economic revitalisation programme targeting urban communities, as per Decision 45 COM 7B.45.

The IMF from 2021 —which was re-submitted as a draft without updates or revisions— and the adoption of the new Master Plan for the Pashupati Monument Zone —adopted without undergoing the technical review requested by the Committee and still pending submission in a working language of the Committee— underscores the imperative need for these critical documents to be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies prior to their implementation.

Furthermore, the State Party should be reminded of the necessity to submit comprehensive details of major projects, including HIAs, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before any decision is made that would be difficult to reverse, in line with Paragraphs 118bis and 172 of the Operational Guidelines. The Patan Durbar Square Monument Zone sewer project was implemented without demonstrating how feedback from the ICOMOS Technical Review was incorporated. Although the State Party considers that its heritage impacts are only temporary, it warrants the submission of a detailed report on archaeological findings and monitoring upon the project's completion.

The Committee may wish to reiterate its call for a revision of the draft procedures for HIAs in Nepal, urging the State Party to align them with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context. The revised draft should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for a review by the Advisory Bodies, to ensure that future projects do not negatively impact World Heritage properties in Nepal.

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2024
Draft Decision: 46 COM 7B.36

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7B,
  2. Recalling Decision 45 COM 7B.45, adopted at its extended 45th session (Riyadh, 2023),
  3. Welcomes the State Party’s continued efforts towards the recovery of the property following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake and the significant progress that has been made following the establishment of the International Scientific Committee for Kathmandu Valley (ISC-KV), and notes with appreciation that much of the required conservation and restoration work to earthquake-damaged monuments within the Protected Monument Zones of the property has been completed, and that a series of sector strategies will be prepared to support the ongoing conservation and management of the property, and requests that draft versions of the sector strategies be reviewed and approved by the ISC-KV before being finalised and implemented;
  4. Reiterates its previous call for the international community to continue supporting the State Party’s recovery work through financial, technical or expert assistance, including capacity building and training, support for local communities and their housing and social needs, and the ongoing resources needed to enable the active participation of international experts in the ISC-KV;
  5. Noting the development of the ‘Recovery Plan: Remaining Activities Report’, and recalling its previous requests that the Recovery Master Plans (RMP) for each Protective Monument Zone of the property be in line with the implementation of the UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation), requests that the State Party integrate the RMPs for each Protective Monument Zone of the property within the proposed ‘Recovery Plan: Remaining Activities Report’, as part of an overall socio-economic revitalization programme for urban communities;
  6. Noting that the 2021 version of the Integrated Management Framework (IMF) was re-submitted without revisions or updates, requests that it be revised in line with the Technical Review by the Advisory Bodies,
  7. Regrets that, despite its earlier requests, the new Master Plan for Pashupati Protected Monument Zone was adopted without a prior Technical Review, and reiterates its previous request that the State Party submit the New Master Plan for the Pashupati Protected Monument Zone and the revised IMF to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies prior to implementation;
  8. Welcomes the State Party’s report on progress implementing the recommendations of the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission and the recommendations of the first meeting of the ISC-KV, and requests the State Party to include reporting on the implementation of the recommendations of the ISC-KV in future reports to the Committee;
  9. Notes that the Patan Durbar Square Monument Zone sewer project was implemented without demonstrating how feedback from the ICOMOS Technical Review was incorporated, and requests that a report on this project, including information about archaeological monitoring and discoveries, be submitted to the World Heritage Centre upon completion of the works;
  10. Reiterates its previous request to the State Party to ensure that the draft procedures and format for Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) in Nepal be reviewed and revised to be consistent with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, before being used in relation to projects that may affect World Heritage properties in Nepal, and requests that the updated draft document be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
  11. Reminds the State Party that details of major projects that may have an impact on the OUV of a World Heritage property should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, together with any necessary HIAs, before any decision is made that would be difficult to reverse, in line with Paragraphs 118bis and 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
  12. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2025, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 48th session.
Report year: 2024
Nepal
Date of Inscription: 1979
Category: Cultural
Criteria: (iii)(iv)(vi)
Danger List (dates): 2003-2007
Documents examined by the Committee
SOC Report by the State Party
Report (2024) .pdf
arrow_circle_right 46COM (2024)
Exports

* : The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).

** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.


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