At its twenty-first session, the Committee had expressed its serious concerns over the potential threats posed by the Cheviot Mine Project, designed to exploit a large, open-pit coal mine, located 2.8 km from the Jasper National Park portion of this site. The Bureau noted that Parks Canada, informed the Centre of a Federal Court of Canada hearing from 1 to 3 March 1999 on this case that had rendered its decision on 8 April 1999. The Federal Court quashed the Federal Fisheries Act authorisation of August 1998 to allow work to start on the access road and railway and concluded that the ...
In November 1997, IUCN was informed that conflicts between armed groups had rendered a significant portion of the Park off-limits to staff and that tourism to the area had come to a halt. The twenty-second session of the Bureau requested IUCN to review a report from the Colombian authorities to the Centre and submit its findings to its twenty-second extraordinary session. IUCN informed the Bureau in November 1998 that a major restructuring of Colombia’s conservation administration was underway for devolving responsibilities for the site management to the provincial level. However, ...
Sites: Los Katíos National Park
The Centre informed the Bureau that Salonga National Park is the only one of the five sites of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has not been included in the List of World Heritage in Danger and that the site is located in the more central part of the country and hence is relatively less impacted by on-going armed conflicts in the eastern part of the country. However, the Centre proposed to the Bureau that Salonga National Park should be included with the other four sites of DRC in the List of World Heritage in Danger. In this way, Salonga would be part of all efforts ...
Sites: Salonga National Park
At its twenty-second session, the Bureau was informed of a cable car construction project that would traverse this Park, proposed by a private individual concerned with tourism development. The feasibility of the project was questionable due to the heavy rains, high winds and the steep terrain that characterises this site. The Bureau noted that construction of such major access facilities was not consistent with the management plan of the Park and agreed with IUCN that the Dominican authorities need to exercise great caution when evaluating the feasibility of this proposal. At its ...
At its last session, the Committee commended the State Party for ensuring the passage of the «Special Law on the Galapagos» on 18 March 1998, by the Official Registry of Ecuador as Law No. 278, and decided not to include Galapagos in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Law provides for the extension of the outer boundary of the marine reserve from 24 to 64 km offshore and for the establishment of a significant 130,000 km2 Reserve for the conservation of marine biodiversity where only tourism and artisanal fisheries will be permitted. Furthermore, the Law addresses most ...
Sites: Galápagos Islands
This site supports the largest population of the greater Indian one-horned rhinoceros; a 1993 census revealed 1164 animals in the Park. Other important species in the Park include the swamp deer, the tiger, the elephant and the water buffalo. Record rainfall in mid-1998 resulted in exceptional flooding of the Brahmaputra River and parts of the Park were under 6 metres of water. More than a square kilometre area of the floodplain was lost and the Director of the Park informed IUCN that an estimated 652 animals, including 42 rhinoceroses, were lost due to the flood. During the floods, ...
Sites: Kaziranga National Park
Since the inscription of the site on the World Heritage List in 1991, the site has benefited from financial assistance from the Fund for the purchase of boats and for training staff in marine protected area management in Queensland, Australia. A monitoring report on the site was provided via the UNESCO Office, Jakarta, to the Centre in 1995. IUCN informed the Centre that it has received a report indicating an increase in illegal dynamite and cyanide fishing in coastal waters which has had a serious impact on large areas of coral in the northern half of the marine component of the Park. ...
Sites: Komodo National Park
At its twenty-second extraordinary session, the Bureau recalled that during 1996-97 the State Party had established a Scientific Committee that set up stringent environmental conditions on the proponents of an industrial salt production facility, and successfully averted threats which the construction of that facility would have posed to the integrity of this site. The Bureau was informed that renewed consideration of the construction project was once again threatening the site and some conservation organisations had called for the designation of El Viscaino as a World Heritage site ...
The Bureau recalled that in 1997, the authorities of Oman submitted an interim zoning plan that foresaw a new outer boundary, and provisional boundaries for five management zones. In addition, they provided brief descriptions of their plans for implementing several projects and a report on the population status of the Arabian Oryx in the Sanctuary. At its twenty-second session (June 1998), the Bureau agreed with IUCN’s position that it would be better to review the zoning plan and other associated proposals after the overall management plan and the boundaries for the site are ...
At its twenty-second session, the Bureau was informed that a Canadian/Peruvian mining consortium was in the final stages of obtaining approval to develop one of the world's largest copper and zinc deposits found at Antamina, located 20 km east of this Park. Mining will commence in 2001 and proceed for 20 years. The Bureau noted that the concentrates may be transported from the mining site to the coast, either via a Central Road that traverses the Park, or an alternative Southern Road encircling the Park. The mining company had agreed to use the Southern Road, which is outside the ...
Sites: Huascarán National Park
At its twenty-second session, the Bureau was informed that a number of laws for the national protection of the Lake existed and that the Duma had adopted the Federal Law on «The Protection of the Baikal Lake» which was, however, vetoed by the President. The Federal Law had been tabled for a third reading in the Duma, taking into account comments made by the President’s intervention. The Russian authorities had not come to any conclusions regarding the re-profiling of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill at Baikalsk, one of the main polluters of the Lake. The Observer of the ...
Sites: Lake Baikal
At its twenty-second session the Bureau was informed that a giant holding pool of the Aznalcollar mine owned by the Canadian-Swedish Boliden-Apirsa Company burst resulting in an ecological disaster. Although the main toxic flow had been diverted away from the National Park, the adjoining areas have been badly damaged. The Bureau was informed that the spill could spread into the World Heritage area as pollutants dispersed more widely. The State Party had submitted a number of technical reports on the situation and on actions taken to mitigate the threats. The President of the Spanish MAB ...
Sites: Doñana National Park
At its twenty-second extraordinary session, the Bureau was informed of fires that had affected Thailand and other countries in the region. The Bureau learned that the Chairperson had approved a sum of US$ 20,000 for a project on research, training and raising awareness of local people on forest fire prevention and control in and around this site. The project foresees the implementation of joint activities by site staff and representatives of local communities in forest fire prevention and control during the dry season that would begin after November 1998. The Bureau requested the Centre, ...
The Bureau recalled the insecurity situation prevailing in this site which resulted in the killing of eight tourists visiting the site to view mountain gorillas and four camp staff members in March 1999. The Centre informed the Bureau that Bwindi Forest has also been impacted due to armed conflicts in the African Great Lakes Region, similar to the sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo inscribed in the List of World Heritage in Danger. Bwindi too needs special efforts of the Centre and IUCN in any campaigns to raise awareness of the needs of biodiversity conservation in ...
The Bureau at its twenty-third ordinary session, was informed by the Centre on the continued and worsening rebel activity and insecurity in the districts of Kasese and Bundibugyo, which surround the Rwenzori Mountains. In a letter dated 14 May 1999, the Uganda Wildlife Authority informed the Centre that the Rwenzori Mountains National Park has been insecure since June 1997 and the Park has therefore been closed and no meaningful conservation activities have been taking place. The long term negative impact on the flora and fauna and the general environment cannot be predicted, nor is it ...
The Bureau, at its twenty-second extraordinary session, was informed that the Centre had transmitted the report entitled «Threats to St. Kilda World Heritage Site from Proposed Oil Exploration and Production in the Atlantic Frontier», prepared by Greenpeace International, to IUCN for review. This report had raised serious concerns on potential impacts to this site, particularly in the event of a possible oil spill that may result from the use of the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Facilities (FPSOs). There are important threats associated with pollution derived ...
Sites: St Kilda
At its twenty-first session (Naples, 1997) the Committee expressed its concern over threats due to a proposal to erect a series of power transmission lines across this Park. At its twenty-second session (June 1998), the Bureau learned that the President of Venezuela had re-affirmed his Government’s commitment to protect the site and had welcomed the possibility of a UNESCO mission to evaluate the power-line construction project and to determine the boundaries of the site. At its last session (Kyoto, 1998), the Committee called upon the Centre and IUCN to field a mission to Canaima ...
Sites: Canaima National Park
At its twenty-second session, the Bureau had noted that the Government of Vietnam/JICA study on environmental management for Ha Long Bay had commenced in February 1998 and was to be completed in October 1999. The Bureau was informed of the loan agreement signed (March 1998) by the Government of Vietnam and OECF, Japan, for the construction of the Bai Chay Bridge, to link Bai Chay Beach to Ha Long City across the Bai Chay Bay. The agreement foresaw a feasibility study as well as an environmental impact assessment of the bridge construction project. At its twenty-second extraordinary ...
The Bureau recalled that at, twenty-second extraordinary session, it was informed of IUCN's review of the "Scoping Report: Potential impacts associated with the proposed development of the Mosi-oa-Tunya Hotel Complex", commissioned by Sun International, the company that would like to develop this hotel complex on the Zambian side of this transborder site. IUCN had raised the following key issues of concern:
(a) the proposed development site is within the World Heritage area and particularly close to the river banks;
(b) institutional support to be provided by the Zambian ...
The Secretariat introduced the discussion by referring to the summary of recent deliberations by the Committee and its Bureau concerning Kakadu National Park contained in WHC-99/CONF.204/5 that also provided information concerning the implementation of the decisions of the twenty-second session of the Committee up until the date of finalization of the document at the end of May. The subsequent decisions of the World Heritage Committee at its twenty-second session in Kyoto in December 1998 are included in their entirety in the same working document.
In accordance with the reporting ...
Sites: Kakadu National Park