Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Campeche

• Governance (need to strengthen the coordinating mechanism)
• Legal framework (need to assure that the buffer zone is configured in a way designed to protect the property)
• Management systems/ management plan (lack of an integrated Protection and Management Plan)
• Weak monitoring system for the Cultural and Natural values
• Impact of Tren Maya project

N/A

On 31 January 2024 and 28 March 2024, the State Party submitted state of conservation reports, which are available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1061/documents/. Progress in a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented in these reports, as follows:

• Implementation of the Management Plan is strengthened with the appointment of conservation staff. A documentation protocol for research was established, which includes three-dimensional surveys and detailed recording of stelae, stone reliefs, stucco elements and mural painting in three monumental complexes. Priority conservation actions will be implemented in the first quarter of 2024;
• A conservation project has been initiated in virtually all pre-Hispanic buildings that have been explored since the start of the Calakmul Archaeological Project in 1993. The guidelines provided by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) for archaeological interventions will be applied to ensure their integrity and authenticity;
• Further research on the demonstrated impact of climate change is being undertaken;
• The Laberinto Project continued research with LiDAR imagery. This evidenced the complexity of the urban area and the enormous knowledge of the environment that led the ancient Maya to transform the landscape;
• Vigilance by the National Guard, since 2022, at the access road and the public area has reduced vandalism and illegal extraction of wood. INAH has requested to expand the vigilance to other archaeological sites in the area;
• In the framework of the Tren Maya project, construction of the site museum is 7% complete. The new visitor centre is 8% complete, built along the access road at the border of the property. Its location is the abandoned Calakmul Museum of Nature and Archaeology, thus no new clearing is required. The centre will serve as the entry point to the site. The interpretation area will address the cultural and natural heritage of the “Great Calakmul” region and local communities will be able to sell regional products and serve food. In the medium-term, larger buses and cars are expected and visitors will be transported in lighter vehicles from this point;
• Coordination with CONANP is strengthened through participation of INAH in the CONANP Advisory Council;
• As part of the Tren Maya project, the INAH-report provides detailed information on the procedures and methodology of the archaeological research and approval of the construction works. The train and 100 to 250 meters of land on either side, will pass through an area of the buffer zone and Biosphere Reserve (BR) of Calakmul. It will not affect the property. In this area, 868 archaeological monuments were identified, requiring archaeological salvage action, 33 where technical measures for the protection and conservation of monuments are required and 6 with total restriction that require modification of the construction project. Measures are then taken to protect findings including modification of the path of the train and covering monuments under embankment with geogrid, viaducts, or bridges;
• The relevant authority recommended in 2021-2022 precautionary measures to minimize or avoid negative impacts on the natural values of the property from the Tren Maya project based on outcomes from the Environmental Impact ‘Statement’ (EIA). Mitigation measures to avoid any damage to species or populations as a result of the project are also intended to be carried out. The National Tourism Development Fund (FONATUR) is developing a comprehensive tourism planning instrument that defines strategies and actions for the sustainable growth of tourism in the municipality of Calakmul;
• The Calakmul BR decree has been modified to change the area of the biosphere reserve. From 2018 to 2023, 20 Areas Voluntarily Destined for Conservation (ADVCs) have been certified in the buffer zones of the property.

The State Party reports credible, extensive, and detailed information on the process that is applied in the research, documentation and conservation works at the property and in the preparation and execution of the Tren Maya project, including with regards to the sustainable growth of tourism. The use of advanced methodologies and techniques is very much welcomed, as is the attention that is being paid to monuments that have been explored and consolidated since the start of the Calakmul Archaeological Project in 1993.

Regarding the Tren Maya project, it is noted with regret that, while the construction of the train and accompanying works are proceeding rapidly, the State Party has not responded to the recommendations of the technical reviews by the Advisory Bodies. No update is provided on the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) that was requested by the Committee to assess cumulative impacts on the World Heritage properties along the proposed railway route, namely: (i) Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque; (ii) Sian Ka'an; (iii) Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen - Itza; (iv) Pre-Columbian City of Uxmal; (v) Historic Walled City of Campeche; and (vi) Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Campeche.

The recommendations issued through the ICOMOS-IUCN technical reviews relate to the whole of the Tren Maya project and apply to the property. The Tren Maya will transect the buffer zone of the property and cut the BR in two. The project includes a new museum, and a visitor centre component that will be constructed at the entrance to the property, and an increase of visitors and heavier means of transport are foreseen in the medium term. The potential impacts of these multiple components of interventions require an assessment at the strategic level to consider cumulative impacts through an SEA. Once the SEA has been completed, EIAs for each project component should be undertaken. In this regard, it is noted that the State Party provided a link to a Regional Modality Environmental Impact ‘Statement’ (EIA) for the Tren Maya Tramo 7 project (one section of the railway project) in 2023. This report had several shortfalls:

1. The assessments of impacts on OUV focused largely on the general description of the criteria, not on the specific values and attributes contained within the Statement of OUV for the property;
2. The report concludes that the project will not impact on the property on the grounds that the project transects the buffer zone, not the property, and therefore does not adequately consider impacts beyond the project footprint;
3. The location of the proposed railway transects through the narrow section of the buffer zone, for which the Committee has requested a review of its configuration, yet these Committee decisions were not taken into consideration in the report, and the proposed alignment will therefore further disconnect the property and its surrounding buffer zone from its northern section.

Revision to the EIA is hence needed to assure the protection of OUV.   

The information regarding the adopted decree to change the size and boundaries of the BR, alongside progress in developing ADVCs, is noted. However, no information is provided on the consultation on the changing of boundaries with the local communities in the areas concerned, and therefore the State Party should be requested to provide further information on this. This is particularly significant in the context of the property’s inscription under criterion (ix) linked to the long-standing interaction between people and nature, insofar as the mature forests display a floristic composition and structure largely resulting from thousand-year old Maya agricultural and forestry practices, which intertwine processes of human selection and regeneration of natural systems, both considered traditional management practices among native communities still inhabiting the buffer zone and surrounding areas. It should also be recalled that the Committee, in its Decision 45 COM 7B.99, urged the State Party to ensure that reconfiguration of the property’s buffer zone follows a transparent, consultative process with full and effective participation of all relevant stakeholders and rightsholders.

Noting the rapid development of the Tren Maya project and its accompanying works and their potential negative impacts on the OUV of the property, it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to invite a joint UNESCO/ICOMOS/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property.