Plitvice Lakes National Park

• Armed conflict (issue resolved)
• Poaching of bears (issue resolved)
• Dynamite fishing (issue resolved)
• Destruction of the forests and park facilities (issue resolved)
• Possible over-visitation of the site

On 15 February 2016, the World Heritage Centre sent a letter to the State Party requesting clarifications regarding the “Physical Plan for areas with specific features of the Plitvice Lakes National Park”, following receipt of third party information raising concerns over potential implications of the Plan for the protection of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). On 6 May 2016, in response to the letter from the World Heritage Centre, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property (a summary is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/98/documents/), providing the following information:

• The development of a spatial plan for Plitvice Lakes National Park started in 2005. Public consultations were held in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and in 2014 the Plan was adopted by the Parliament of Croatia;
• The obligation to carry out Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) of spatial plans for national parks was introduced through a number of legislative amendments adopted in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. Since the development of the Spatial Plan for the Plitvice Lakes National Park started before 2008, this requirement did not apply to this plan;
• In 2013 the responsibility for the application of the Spatial Plan for the Plitvice Lakes National Park and the issuing of construction permits was transferred from the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning to the regional planning authority. Since then the Public Institution “Plitvice Lakes National Park” has expressed its concerns regarding incorrect application of the legislation and potential threats to the OUV of the property due to excessive construction. Between 2007 and 2014, before the Spatial Plan was adopted, 20 building permits for reconstruction of tourism facilities within the property were issued. The Plitvice Lakes National Park Public Institution appealed some of these permits; however, the appeals were not accepted. Since 2014, 40 new tourism facilities have been constructed within the property;
• In February 2016, the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection requested the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning to carry out administrative supervision of the regional authority responsible for the issuing of construction permits and to prepare a potential legislative amendment related to the competence for issuing construction permits within protected areas.

The expansion of tourism facilities within the property raises serious concerns, including the fact that concerns over issuing of construction permits have repeatedly been expressed by the management authority of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, but have not been addressed. The reported scale of construction within the property appears significant, and is considered to represent a potential danger to its OUV in accordance with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines, given the sensitivity of the property’s unique hydrological regime and geological features.

The information provided by the State Party that an administrative supervision has recently been requested and will be carried out in order to evaluate the issuing of construction permits for facilities within the property by the regional planning authority is noted. It is recommended that the World Heritage Committee urge the State Party to undertake such evaluation of procedures and competences as a matter of priority and to ensure that no new permits are issued until this process has been completed. It is also recommended that the Committee request the State Party to ensure, through the development of appropriate mechanisms, that the management authority of the property is included in the future decision-making processes regarding permissions for any development within the property. 

While noting that no such requirement existed at the time of the initiation of the Spatial Plan for the Plitvice Lakes National Park, the fact that the Spatial Plan was adopted in 2014 while no SEA had been carried out during its preparation is of serious concern. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to undertake such an assessment, including an assessment of potential impacts on the OUV and integrity of the property, in line with IUCN’s Advice Note on Environmental Assessment, in order to inform the measures that will need to be taken to ensure adequate protection of the OUV of the property. 

It is further recommended that the Committee request the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to assess the threat posed to the property’s OUV by the recent expansion of tourism facilities within the property and to confirm whether or not the property meets the conditions for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The mission should also provide recommendations to the State Party with regards to the preparation of the SEA.